Shakespeare's home at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon

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fi.'S-l -

■ 4ti^ . tf ■ ., .^ "yiF ? ii', Pis t il gi r.jii I JIL . i iM

jfinndbpitce.

** O on a \ S. a Spear. O. Crest a ^con, wings display'd,
** A, supporting: a Spear in |. O. Granted ao October, 1596, to
** John ShaKBSPBRB, of atrMfird-Mfm-Ama^ in Cm. Wsrr.^ Gent.,
** per Will. Dbthick,**— (iW» CW/. Am.)

7^

RE'S HOME

i>^UPON'AFON.

Hm/el' hdUiHthe Bagm
I, by SiH Hugh Ci-optom,
the pnperhf tfYfiLUkU
induran he Bvei and dStd.

^ BELLEWiirw y

* z *•**

iin hmdon,

lltOTHERS AND CO.,
1^ Patbrvostbr Row.

PREFACE.

:^:fC-:^:^if>:^:^^:^:^if^:^:^:^.:^:^>:^:^-^-JC-'^-^^

i^N entering a Continental Cathedral
^^^ the traveller's attention is arrefted
by an iron Corona ftudded with burning
tapers. They are the humble offerings
of devotees.

The following pages are my humble
offering at the flirine of that intelleftual
edifice, fo vaft in proportion and fo lovely
in detail, which our Shakefpere ercdted by
his works. Let me ftand where the iron
Corona does, clofe to the portal, holding
my feet in reverence, and not venturing
to tread, with any pretence of critical
furvey, the long drawn aifles of that
ftupendous flrudlure which aftonifhes
and delights the mafter minds of our

viii Preface.

race. I (hall not need to be told that the
" farthing-candle ray " is a very appro-
priate fitnile to charafterife the following
pages. It is fo. But let me pray that it be
not blown out, or fhufFed out, with cruel
heedleifiiefs (puffed, of courfe, it is not
likely to be), becaufe, though its quantity
of illuminating power be but a " little
** inch of light,'* fo far as it does extend,
I believe it difperfes fome darkne&, and
may prove ufefiil in giving other pil-
grims to the fhrine, a momentary glimpfe
of dim diflances, which may excite
Goriofiity, and the defire to explore their
hidden receiTes.

. In fimple language, I believe a great
many fadts regarding Shakefpere remain
to be brought to light ; and that, while
the critic or fcholar has little left to fay
diat is freih or new regarding his works,
the antiquary may have a great deal to
diioover and to fay regarding the man.

It

Preface. ix

It is remarkable what a labour of love
has been expended by many eminent
men of my own profeflion upon the
works of the Poet. In their wake I
have not dared to follow ; but I fhall
have done fome good, I truft, if I
detect a need and point it out, fo that
others, wifer, and better than I, may
provide for its fatisfadion. The title of
my book fuggefts a fubjedl upon which
there refts the darknefs of an almoft pro-
found ignorance. What do we know
of the man Shakeipere in his home — in
his domeftic, focial, moral charadler, in
his home aflbciations and his home aflb-
ciates ; — nay! what have we cared to
know of him in them ?

Let not the reader be deceived, and
tempted into reading my book by fup-
pofing that I pretend to lift the veil, and
with my tiny taper to illuminate the
darknefs. I do not. But / do try to

make

X Preface.

make the darknefs vifible ; and to the bcft
of my opportunities, I have ftrivcn to
caft a little light upon fcattcred points,
and fomc few fads, which I think have
not previoiifly been publiflied.

The ableft and moft learned man
would ipeak with modefty and hefitation
regarding any work he might publifh re-
ferring to Shakefpere. It is with the moft
fincere diffidence that I venture to let the
following pages pafs through the Prefs ;
but I take courage to do fo from the
belief, that every one who will honour me
by reading what I have written, will fee
that I have honeftly laboured at the fads
of my fubjedl, and that the opinions I
venture to expreis, are alfo honeftly put
ferth.

If I extend this Preface to an inordi-
nate length, it is from my anxiety to
have my objeft underftood — or, at leaft^
not mifunderftood.

The

'^iii-'UiitliiiiK
of kbouTt wiiiiii|
ii«r uninittatect "^fmM
i ift iglbiidcig over * &elr
It would ht m^mt
$$i{ tbcf bore the im^
t-^Arms. Hersl&i
\0if&QSc on themas d]«
filL.iifm. So thejr am
^ifQOont of light thejr ff^%
[hx^ been my owq»

^'^#3

) eaetunderei ariei

♦ ♦

ig inquiry in a u&fy^
Ij^&teSdon, by prefling
die confideration of
>ua in ShakeQmian
leaibns for ib doing
libe boi^' of my wotfc.
^Ule^ii^ to a piir{X)fe
and

Preface. xiii

excufes muft amount to felf-accufation ;
but of one thing I do not accufe myfelf,
and that is, of thankleflhefs to the various
friends who have given me their help.
To Mr. T. DufFus Hardy, Deputy
Keeper of Public Records ; Mr. Burtt,
and Mr. Cole of the Record Office ; to
Mr. Planch(5 and his confreres at Herald's
College; to the Vicar of Stratford, his
Curates, and William Butcher, the Parifli
Clerk ; to Mr. Clarence Hopper, in
making a variety of refearches for me;
to Mr. Hunt, Tow^n Clerk of Stratford, in
patiently enduring my endlefs letters and
inquiries ; — to thefe gentlemen, and to a
number of others, whofe kindnefs has had
my private thanks, (becaufe they objedt
to being mentioned here,) I am greatly
and fincerely indebted. Let me offer
my thanks likev^rife to another perfon.
To John Middleton, Attendant in the
Reading-Room of the Britifh Mufeum,

3dv Preface.

not only of late, but for years, I have
been indebted for conftant attention. I
thank him mod heartily; and think I
do myfelf honour when I go a ftep out
of my way to mark the obligations, which
thofe who frequent the Britifh Mufeum,
the Record Office, the Will Office, and
all other fuch public inftitutions, owe to
the courtefy always extended to readers
and fearchers, not only by the fuperior
officers of thofe places, but alfo by their
humbler affiflants.

I fliall be pleafed, if, on clofing my
book, any of my readers feel a frefliened
intereft in the Man — William Shakefpere;
and above all, I (hall be bed fatisfied if
they are led to think with me, that this
Prince of Poets was a worthier and better
inan than we vulgarly account him ; that
Shakefpere's Home is a fubjedl deferving
our ftudy and refpedt ; and that he was
no hypocritical mouther of fine fenti-

ments

Preface. xv

ments, inditing with his pen the nobleft
and loftieft teaching, and belying it in
the condufl: of his life.

I conceive that no one can teach
effecftively, that which he has not himfelf
felt earneftly ; nor until good can be put
for evil, and evil for good, can I bring
myfelf to think that the pureft intellec-
tual refrefhment of a race thirfting after
knowledge, pours from a polluted fourcc.
I pidlure Shakefpere to myfelf as an em-
bodiment of the manly, honeft, and lofty
virtues, which his Mufe delights to
crown with honour ; and half my rever-
ence for him would be gone if I did
not feel morally convinced that the
greateft of all human teachers, was not
only a Great Man, but alfo a Good Man !

*^* As Shakelpere's name has been fpelt by lo
many ditferent people in fo many diti'orent ways, I
may remark that the orthography I have adopted is
that of the Grant of Arms in Herald's College, 1596 ;
beiievine. as I do, that the fpelUns: in that document

NEW PLACE,

Stratford-upon-Avon,

'::'^-^'k^^y^'^:''<''^'^'k-'^'^'k-'^*'^'^'k^^'^-^-^i^^^^

" C\^ ^^^ north fide of this Chapell
^"^^ " was a Fair Houfe, built of brick
" and timber, by the faid Hugh, wherein
" he Uved in his later dayes and dyed.
" On the fouth fide of which Chapell
" flands the Grammar School.'* Thefe
words, quoted from Dugdale's "War-
** wickfliire," and referring to Sir Hugh
Clopton, Knt., were, until the other day,
the chief record pofi^efled by Englifhmen

of

Stratford-upon-Anjon.

with the prayer exprefled in Garrick's
words : —

" And may no sacrilegious hand
Xear Avons hanks he found,
To dare to parcel out the land,
And limit Shahespere s hallowed ground.
For ages free, still he it unconfined,
As hroad and general as thy houndless mind,''

As foon as the fympathy of the public for
the objedt in queflion was exhibited, the
ambition of its promoters expanded as
the fubfcriptions increafed; and nothing
lefs than the full and entire recovery of
the eftate once poflefTed by Shakefpere
at New Place, would fatisfy thefe ardent
and enthufiaftic individuals.

Goldfmith complained (to Dodfley
after dinner) that his was an " unpoetic
"age." There are many chatterers of
the prefent day who repeat the com-
plaint, which feems to have become
ftereotyped for all time. It was a foolifli

thought

-■I •* ^i-

New !

thought to fay ** am
age muft feem to
matter of fadt anc
always appears profa'
morrow — ^fubje<3s
anticipation^ not ot
the fit themes fbij
age, however prof
gave Jiim good pr
ciation; and fo oi
it may be) gives
admiration for th^
nuine poetry, whd
or reads the otherl

If the true poet
memories of his
more the Prince <

There are the
that Shakefpere's
and that people g
nothing about Sh
not to the purpof!

5A^.*ri--.^:

New Place^

tliought to fay " an unpoctic age/* for every
age muft feem to the men of the day
matter of fad and unpoetic. To-day
always appears profaic ; ycfterday and to-
morrow — fubjc(Sts of retrofpedtion and
anticipation, not objedts in pofleffion — are
the fit themes for poetry. Goldfiixith's
age, however profaic it may have feemed^
gave him good proof of its poetic appre*
dation ; and fo our age (iron age though
it may be) gives equally good proof of its
admiration for the real poet and for ge-
nuine poetry, wherever it finds the on^
or reads the other.

If the true poet lives in the hearts and
memories of his countrymen, how much
more the Prince of all the Bards ?

There are thofe who will boldly aflert
that Shakefpere's works do not attrad^
and that people generally, care little or
nothing about Shakefpere himfelf It i|c
not to the purpofe in this place to enteil

Stratford'iipon-Avoji.

into any difcuflion upon fuch topics. It
might, however, be argued that the
ftudents of his works have found them-
felves compelled (unlefs contented with
being guilty of ignorance) to make the
Poet's plays the companions of the clofet ;
and that from the ftudent's clofet the
moft valuable interpretations of his text
have ifllied of late years. Such an argu-
ment would infer that the marvellous
creations of the Poet's mind command
peculiar refpedl at the prefent time ; and
it may be unhefitatingly aflerted, that
abundant evidence is forthcoming to
prove that this is a facft. There has
not been an era in Englifh litera-
ture more fruitful in labours of critical
comment upon the text of Shakefpere,
and more inquiring into every fort
of evidence likely to throw light upon
his life and hiftory. It might alfo be
argued, that the people of England are

juft

e fame of their countryman — are j
ixious to prcferve with facrcd care
lique and memento of the brij
tnius the world has ever produc<
ly of their forefathers have been,
imftances, perhaps, would warrant
[ertion that the prefent generation
bits more intereft in him, and r
irerence for everything connefted ^
tn, than any other fince his death,
itiment of George IL, that Shakefp
lys are bombaft, no longer coipm
irtly acquiefcence ; and the Cai
>ufc fafliion of depreciating his w
rticularly by thofe who had n
lied them) is a fafliion that has

r

Stratford'Upon-Avon.

that revival of tafte for architefture, and
that reverence for mediaeval art, which
does honour to the reign of Vicfloria, and
will hereafter fignalife it. The hiftorian
will tell how, from the fixteenth to the
nineteenth century, the ecclefiaftical archi-
tefture of England univerfally, and the
domeftic generally, became bafer and ftill
more bafe ; until, towards the clofe of the
Georgian era, it reached a depth of de-
gradation (land-marked by the introduc-
tion of Roman Cement and Cockney
Villas) than which nothing could be more
infamous. The fame hiftorian will tell of
the great work that Pugin did, of the
confequent refufcitation of tafte, and of
love for architedlural beauty becoming a
neceflary part of polite education. He
will tell how (as the legitimate accompa-
l niments of fuch regenerated refinement)

1 the Englifli people awoke to the convic-

y tion that the fabrics of their churches

8

New Place,

had been at the mercy of Goths and
Vandals, and that the moft interefting
hiftorical remains of domeflic architedture
had been (hameleflly deftroyed or barba-
rbufly mutilated. Then came the Refto-
ration : a reftoration in its particular pro-
vince more beneficial and remedial than
£)me chronological events defignated by
that phrafe have proved.

To the therapeutic fpirit, fo happily
prevalent in England at the prefent period
regarding mediaeval art, may fairly be attri-
buted fbme meafure of the intereft, and a
great amount of the funds, which have
been fubfcribed to reftore the birthplace
of Shakefpere, in Henley Street, at Strat-
ford; and alfo to fave his laft place of
refidence fi-om being utilifed for " build-
**inglot8/' or vulgarifed by any fpeculative
Bammn.

For fbme months the fubjedt has
dropped out of public notice. The terrific

calamity

Stratford-upon-Avon.

calamity at Hartley Colliery, and the
incumbent fubfcriptions of all generous
and charitable people, for the widows and
orphans of the deceafed ; the heavy vifi-
tation upon the Queen and country, fol-
lowed by the Memorial Fund ; and laft
of all, the increafing want of our long-
fuffering and brave fellow-countrymen in
Lancafliire, calling for the admiration and
fympathetic contributions of thofe who
can aid them in their dire neceflity,
have, for a period, checked any appeals to
public fympathy, except thofe of an urgent
charadler.

In the face of fuch griefs and fuch
wants, it was impoflible for the Shake-
fpere Fund fubfcription lift to keep its
place before the public. It has, probably
for this reafon, been temporarily with-
drawn. If fo, the ad: has been judicious.
While the fubjed: is in abeyance, it may
be well to confider what has been done

with

Stratfo7\i'Jipon-Avon. 1 1

houfe was built by Sir Hugh Clopton, of
brick and timber. Sir Hugh lived in the
reign of Henry VH. The general ap-
pearance of the building can be eafily
imagined, though there is no drawing of
it in exijlence.

The plate on the oppoiite page gives a
reprefentation of a houfe built about the
fame time that Sir Hugh Clopton erefted
"New Place/' It prefents to us the front
elevation of " Ockwells/' in the parifli of
Bray, Berkfhire, at prefent poffefled by
Mr. Grenfell, of Taplow. This houfe is
stated to have been built during the reign
of Richard III., and is one of the very few
fpccimens of dome ft ic architeBiire now
remaining of that date. The Great Hall,
until lately, was adorned by a beautiful
ftained-glafs window, emblazoned with the
armorial bearings of Henry VII., and the
Duke of Somerfet ; but, in a fpirit akin
to Vandalifm, this moft interefting rem-
nant

12

New 'Place 9

nant of antique heraldry has been removed
from its proper place, and fixed up in
Mr. Grenfell's new houfe, on Taplow
HiD. It will not furprife the public,
knowing this &dt, to learn that Ockwells
is turned into an ordinary ^m-hoiife;
that its architedtural interefl and artiftic
beauty, as well as antiquity, are apparently
unappreciated; and that its noble haU,
with open-worked Gothic roof and oak
wainfcoting, is made a ploughbojr's
lumber-room, filled with agricultural im-
plements, ploughs, fpades, facks, barrows,
and rakes.* The accompanying drawing
of Ockwells has been given in order to
prefent a ^thflil reprefentation of a
** great houie, built of wood and timber/*
of the time of Henry VII. It is only to

be

* An onfatisfaaoiy hiftoty of the houfe, accompanied
with two admirable drawings of the window n^femd
to, will be (bund in Ly(bn*8 '' Magna firiunnicay**
Berkfhlre> Bray, pariih of.

^^^^^^^^1

Stratford-iipc72-A'V07i. 1 3

be regarded as a fpecimen of a period,
from which Sir Hugh Clopton's houfe
would no doubt differ greatly in detail,
but with which it would agree in cha-
rafter and effedt.

The lovers of " illuftrated works "
have been indulged with a plate repre-
fenting Shakefpere's houfe at New Place ;
but a drawing of a caftle in the air
would have been equally authoritative and
corre(ft. This is one error concerning
New Place that needs to be exploded.
No authentic reprefentation of it exifts.
When Dugdale ufes the words " brick
" and timber," and tells us that the houfe
was built in the reign of Hen^y VII.,
any one who has viiited Coventry, Chefter,
ShrewAury, or the " Mint" at Briilol,
will be able, in his mind's eye, to picflure
the general appearance of Shakefpere's
houfe, with its multiplied gables, its over-
hanging eaves, its barge-boards, enriched

with

jnndows, its ftrong framework of
>eame(l, blacky old Englifh oak fo
he ribs or fkeleton of the houfe, the
rcning fquares built in with brick
)ably plaftered over and whitewa
ts wooden porchway, open-arcaded,
t room above, whofe oriel window
)layed the falcon and tilting fpear.

Of that houfe, which Sir Hugh (
on built, and in which Shakefpere
:quently lived and died, not a vc
^mained but yefterday. Like the ii

antial pageant (of the Poet's play), !

ck was left behind, as &r as any 1

an could tell.

Shakefpere's Barn may, in a cc

If

lisnrm^ in die firil

l^tographedy and then

!#miework df wliicfa thtj

Thefe cottages had

^hf fiibdividmg the ancient

to Shakefpere. On re-

Ibstch, die lath and plafter

i jbetween die beams, and re-

r;|^iUlng to its fkeleton ftruc-

j^fintflMl that, in the lapfe of

^ind a half, all the timbers

i^^mi, fiom time to time, been

^dbe esEception of ibme three

||Ciaii& Thefe were the ible

IPoet's Barn.

vf lurchaie of New Place

fjoi excavations, and the

^ refulted, (though

,) are extremely inte-

fetde feveral points

hove been fubje^ of

ition.

"?^i

-J

The

1 6 New Place 9

The leading fails regarding New Place

are thefe :

I ft. New Place was built by Sir Hugh
Clopton, temp. Henry VII., circ.
1490. He died in London, 1496,
and being a bachelor, devifed it to
his great-nephew, William Clopton,
who died in 1521.

2nd. From the Clopton family it pafled by
purchafe to the family of Bott, in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1563.*

3rd. By Willian Bott it was refold to
Wm. Underbill, within a ftiort ipace
of time, between 1563 and i57o.-f*

4th. William Shakefpere purchafed from
the Underbill family, for £60, New
Place, confifting of " one meffuage^
'* two barns, and two gardens, with
"their appurtenances," during the
Eafter Term of 1597, in the 29^%
year of the reign of Queen Eliza* ^

* Appendix A. f Appendix B,

;;

Stratford-upon- Avon. 1 7

beth, and the year after his only fon,
Hamnet, had died. By him it was
repaired, renovated, and fitted up for
his permanent refidence.
5th. March, 161 6. Shakefpere made his
will, leaving it to his daughter,
Mrs. Hall, for life ; after her, to her
daughter. The month following,
April 23, 1 616, his reputed birth-
day, he died in this houfe, and was
buried two days later, on the 25th,
in the 53rd year of his age.
It was a happy accident that the reign
of Queen Elizabeth had begun before the
birth of the Poet, otherwife this country
would have loft the moft valuable records
regarding him. As foon as the Queen
afcended the throne, the regiftries of the
parifli churches were carefully kept.
The Regifter-book of Stratford Church
contains entries both of the baptifm and
the funeral of Shakefpere.

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 1 9

New Place was left to Sir John
Barnard for his life, and to the ufe of
his executors for fix months after his
death. Lady Barnard died a few
days afterwards, and was buried at
Abington, February 17th, 1669.
Her will was proved 4th March,
1669. The property continued in
the pofTeflion of Sir John until his
death in 1673 ; fubfequentto which,
according to the provifions of the
aforefaid will. New Place was fold.
An indenture, dated i8th May,
1675, conveyed it ** to bee and
" enure to the only ufe and behoofe
"of Sir Edward Walker, Knt.,
" Garter Principall King at Armes,''
who completed the purchafe for the
fum of £1,060.* He died, as the
monument in Stratford Church ftates,
the following year — February, 1676.

8th.

' Appendix C

20

Ne^ Pluie^

8tk.The only chUd of Sir Edward
Walker^ Barbara,^ married Sir John

Clopton,

i

* A native poet of Stratford, by name John Jordan,
and by trade a wheelwrierht, publifhed in 1777 a poem
entitled ** Welcorobe Hills " (which are in the nei^-
bourhood of Stratford). In allufion to one of the
Clapton marriages^-that of Edward (the ifTae of the
above Sir John and Barbara his wife) with Martha
Combe, the laft perfon of note of the family of John a
Combe (Shakefpere^s friend) — ^the poet exclaims : —

" Till a late failure in the iffue male.

Turned, though unprejudiced, the lineal fcale, i

An heirefs Combe, right weU to he allyd, j

Became the heir of neighboring Clapton* s bride.'* 1

As Mrs. Partheriche, the defcendant of this alliance, j
will be alluded to, the marriages are here fubjoined,
thoorii the Pedigree of Clopton, in extenfo, will be
found eliewhere.

Sir Edward Walker. , 1

• Barbara Walker » Sir John Clopton.

Edward Clopton » Martha Combe, last of the line
I of John a Combe.

Edward Clopton » Martha, d. of Thomas Middletofi»
I Esq., ot Mundham, Snrrey.
« * 3 4 S g 17

m

1 1

deceased
nkile young.

Frances Olopton, » John Paitheriche» Esq.

the last of her

familv. She sar-

vtvcd herbasband.

^. «793.

it

0lOfitiaa^ in the fta0t
«ad thoa New ,Phiet

■^(f^m. »to the Clopto^
,^# Joitn deceafed» ApriT
(^ .JIfjr liim New nace

r>ifOimger ibn^ Sir Hugb

fii the Middle Temple^

ikifi Heralda of the* Col-

JijmM, and Recorder of

Clopton pulkd ' drnmi
a^infy rebuilt it, and
■^^kjt nev New Place, 175 1>
; George IL
iV ibn-in-law and exe*
Talbot (brother of the
Talbot)^ fold it to the
Oailrcn, 1753-
liils^rQyed the ntiodeiti
lliniised it to the grotmdt

\ "r . ••

;v ,

13th. The fubfequcnt hiftory of New
Place — 1775 to 1862 — may be told
in a few words. Mrs. Gaftrell fold
the property to W. Hunt,* Efq., of
Stratford, in 1775.

14th. The truftees under the will of W.
Hunt, on the 29th Sept., 1790, fold
to Charles Henry Hunt,-f- Efq., who
liibfequendy purchafed of Fanny
Mortiboys, ipinfter, the adjoining
houfe, now known as " Nafhe's
"Houfe."J

15th. The affignees of G. H. Hunt, on
the 15th May, 1867, conveyed the
whole of the property deforibed

upon

♦ Grandfather of W. O. Hunt, Efq., the prefent
Town-clerk of Stratford. He was a promoter of the
Jubilee of 1769. Garrick correfponded with him.

t 'Hie fecond fon of the aforefaid W. Hunt.

X It is only during the prefent year that it has been
afoertained that this houfe belonged to Thomas Nafhe.
who married Shakeibere*8 grand-daughter, Elizabeth
HalL

*^^

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 2 3

upon the Ground Plan as "New
" Place," including that now occu-
pied by the " Theatre," to Edmund
Batterftee and William George
Morris, Efqs., Bankers.
i6th. In January, 1829, the heir-at-law
of E. Batterlbee, and the aflignees of
W. G. Morris, fold off the property
in lots.

A — including Naftie's houfe, was pur-
chafed by Mifs Lucy Smith.

B — the Cottages formed out of Shake-
fpere's Barn, were purchafed, the one
by Michael Prentice, the other by
Thomas Webb.

C — the Great Garden (now a Bowling
Green), including the ground now
occupied by the Theatre, was pur-
chafed by Edward Leyton.

D — is a ftrip of land which formerly
belonged to the Clifford Charity, and

was acquired by an exchange effeded
by Mr. Gailrell. It never belonged
to the Great Garden in Shakei^re's
time^ though it has ccmtinued a part
of it fince Mr. Gaftrell acquired it.

£-^is a ftrip of Garden at the back of
Naihe's houfe» which always belonged
to Nafke's houfc until 1790, when it
.was purchaied by C. H. Hunt^ and
became an integral part of lot A, of
which it has ever fince continued a
part.

F— is the ruins of foundations latdy
uncovered^ in which is identified a
fmall portion of Sir Hugh Clopton's
<* Great Houfe " of New Place, and a
much larger portion of the fecond
faouie, built about 1720 (paragraph 10).

'^.

\h ':•

17th. In 18341 the faid Edward Lejrton j*
. purchafed Webb's cottage, and in *^
1838 he alio purchafed Prentice's;

Stratford-upon-Avon. 25

fo that he became pofleflbr of the
whole of the two lots B and C.

i8th. On the 23rd of January, 1836,
the truftees of the above-mentioned
Lucy Smith, under her will, fold the
lot A to Mr. David Rice, Surgeon.
Some time about this period, be-
tween 1836 and 1844, Edward
Leyton fold that portion of the
Great Garden whereon the Theatre
now (lands, for the erection of that
moft hideous flrudlure. By the
knowledge of this fadl, the reader
will fee what amount of "vene-
** ration " a flaring brick building,
raifed lefs than thirty years ago, can
claim from the public.

19th. In July, 1844, the only daughter
and child of Edward Leyton, con-
tradled marriage with Chas. Frederic
Loggin. Mr. Leyton then fettled
the whole of the remainder of lots

26 New PtacCy

B and C to himfelf tor life, to his
wife after him for her life, and after
her, to his daughter, under truftees,
for her life, givhig them power to fell.
20th. We are thus brought down to the
prefent period, and to the laft fiilcs
that will ever occur upon the New
Place eftate.

A was purchafed by Mr. Halli-
well, by private contrail, of the
truftees under the will of the above-
named furgeon, Mr. Rice, for the
fum of £1,200. It was conveyed
2 1 ft March, 1862.

B and C were purchafed by Mr.
Halliwell, by private contract, of the

I truftees under the fettlement of Mr.

I Loggin, for £2,000. They were

conveyed February 8, 1862.

I Accordingly, there ftill remains to be
purchafed that piece of ground whereon

I

/ Stratford-upon-Avon. 27

Great Garden a few years ago. This
" theatre " (fo called) belongs, at the pre -
fent moment, to a body of fhareholders,
who are prepared to fell their rights — the
ground, buildings, &c. — for £1,100.
No doubt this purchafe will, at no diftant
period, be made; and then the whole
New Place property will belong to the
public, vefted in the corporation of Strat-
i ford, to be preferved by them for ever,
for the contemplation and enjoyment of
the Englifh people.

I

I The above detailed fadls have been

I arranged in paragraphs, fo that the reader

I may, with greater eafe, carry in memory

j the changes and chances to which New

I Place has been fubjedted.

The familiar entries in the church

books of Stratford regarding Shakefpere's

baptifm and burial having been given, it

will render the fubjedt more complete if

wV'

0\ '■

it.

pi

27.5'

aa

New Plody

die principal faAs regarding his marrii^ '
and the iflue of that marriage, are added '
in diis place; for it can fcarcely be
dodibted that ShakeQ)ere purdbafed New
Pkce in order to provide a home for his
wife smd children during his long abiences
in London — a home which he laboured
hard to fufbdn — a home to which he
always retired when the feafons of tem^
porary repofe arrived; when, being fet
free from the mental and phyfical ex-»
ertions necefTary to carry on the buiin^
(^ Blackfriars and the Globe Theatre, he ^
could enjoy (as he ever loved to do) the
hrett aflbciations of that home, and the
delights of the Garden of England-^the '^
hixuriant valley of the Avon.

Numberleis efforts have been made to
di&over the regiftry of Shakeipere's wed-
#ig« Up to the prefent time, all fuc& -
4^orts have proved vain. Hie proba^' .,
lttlity~almoft the certainty— i^ that k ^^

iS^ii.^.

r«*- i«= --

Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 9

has long fince periftied. His marriage
bond and licenfe (bearing date 1582)
are preferved at Worcefter among the
archives of the diocefe. They run
thus : —

"Noverint univerfi per prefentes nos
" fFulconem Sandells de Stratford in comi-
"tatu Warwici agricolam, et Johannem
" Rychardfon ibidem agricolam, teneri
" et firmiter obligari Ricardo Colin gene-
"rofo et Roberto Warmftry notario pub-
"lico in quadraginta libris bonoe et
"legalis monetae Anglioe folvend, eifdem
"Ricardo et Roberto hoered. execut. vel.
"affignat fuis, ad quam quidem folu-
"cionem bene et fideliter faciend, obli-
"gamus nos, et utrumque noftrum per
" fe pro toto et in folice hcered, executor
**et adminiflrator, noftros firmiter, per
"proefentes figillis noftris figillit. Dat.
"28 die Novem. anno regni Domince
** noftrae, Eliz. Dei gratia Angliae, Ffranca^,

t^^...

m

it^"

€€
i€
€€
€€
€€
€4
€€
4€
€€
€€
€€
€€
4€
€4

Si

U

«f
4€

New Place,

et Hibernias ReginSy Fidei Defenfor^
' &c., 250/'

^* The condicion of this obligacion ys
fuche^ that if hereafter there fhall not
appere any lawfull lett or impediment
by reafbn of any precontradt^ conian- :
guitie^ afEnitie, or by any other lawfiiU
meanes whatfoever, but that William
Shagfpere one thone partie^ and Actt
Hathwey, of Stratford, in the dioces of
Worcefter, maiden, may lawfiiUy iblem-*
nize matrimony together, and in die
fame afterwardes remaine and continew
like man and wifFe, according unto the
lawes in that behalf provided; and,
moreover, if there be not at this
prefent time any adtion, fute, quarreE^ J
or demaund, moved or depending befofir Ji
any judge, ecdefiafticall or tempcnn^
for and concerning any fuche lawfMK|
lett or impediment; and, moreover^

€€

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1

" the faid William Shagfpere do not pro-
" ceed to folemnizacion of mariadg with
"the faid Ann Hathvvey without the
" confent of his frindes ; and alfo if the
"faid William do, upon his own proper
"coftes and expenfes, defend and fave
"harmles, the Right Reverend Father in
" God, Lord John, Bufhop of Worcefter,
"and his offycers, for licencing them the
"faid William and Ann to be maried
" together with once afking of the bannes
" of matrimony betwene them, and for
**all other caufes which may enfue by
"reafon or occafion thereof, that then
"the faid obligacion to be voyd and of
" none effedl, or els to ftand and abide in
"full force and vertue."

Here follow the fignatures, or marksy
of the witnefles ; the firft refembling the
attempt that an aged perfon would make
to draw a triangle ; the fecond being a
clumfy letter C. Two feals are added:

the

&^.

tlK one is defaced, the othor bears 1^
iinpreffion*'R.H." Who was *^IL !!.?••

Could this be the feal of the bride'^i
&dier» Richafd Hathaway? and inftead
of the licenfe being procured in fecrefy,
as Mr. Collier has fuggefted, may it not
have been granted with the full know<^
ted^e andconfent of Richard Hathaway f
Even fuppofing that there might be trv^.
in the view which De Quincey and M^
Cdlier have taken of this marriage — tkH
it was accomplifhed hurriedly and fecrdtljK
— ^fuch an argument would firengdien dli)
fiippofition that " R. H." was the bridd^
ikihcT^ and that he had acoompilE
Sfaakefpere to Worcefter, in order to
that the licenfe was duly fecureci
a fiippofition would be mofl naXtt^^
there was any ground for fcandal,
, many perfons have fhown a fingular
iot infinuating. The *' mature
^^woman^ five years pafl her tn\

><- •>flta

:.3i£i^:4^^j^:....

>f.

^ ■:.^■.i^riJ

Stratford-upon-Avon. 33

being " led aftray by the boy with two
"and a half years to run of his minority,"
is objedtionable to De Quincey's contem-
plation. Perhaps the idea is more abfurd
than objedtionable.

The evidence of " legal documents" —
"aftory fo fignificant and fo eloquent to
"the intelligent," — certainly fhows that
Shakefpere procured his licenfe, 28th
November, 1582, and that his firft child,
Sufannah, was baptifed the following
26th May, 1583. But what then ? Did
the mature young woman lead the boy
aftray; and did the indignant R. H., on
difcovering the truth, infift upon an im-
mediate marriage, to hide his child's
difgrace ?

This would be one way of explaining
the procuring of the licenfe ; and there
might then be great fignificance in the
tal of " R. H." appended to the bond !

It has been conclufively fhown, from

34 ^^"^ P/acCy

the very regifters of Stratford, that mar-
riages, with the fame " figniiicance of
" dates '' between the church ceremony
and the baptifm of the eldefl child, were
cuftomary at Stratford.

It has alfo been fhown, that they were
cuftomary in England, and on the conti-
nent ; and before any fcandal was hinted
at, as to the purity of the " mature young
" woman,'' it would have been well for
the marriage cufloms of the age, and of
people in Shakefpere's rank of life, to
have been carefully ftudied. Even in
this nineteenth century, there are ruftic
parts of northern England, in which the
fnort of the iron-horfe has never been
heard, where fuch primitive cuftoms ftill
furvive, and contrails of marriage are
made precifely as they were in Shake-
fpere's day. **

In fuch bucolic, or, as they might
be called, " uncivilifed " parts, marriage

is

Stratford-upon-Avon. 35

is " honourable among all men/* and
as duly celebrated as the contract is
made.

" h it a cuflom 9
Ay, marry, is *//*

It is difficult to underftand how a youth
of Shakefpere's age, and of his difpofition,
could be fufpedted of fecretly and fud-
denly binding, " in the prayers of holy
** church," a connexion that he had
formed fhamefiilly. Reverence for the
memory of fo great a moralift, and fo
warm a champion of female purity and
innocence, (hould prompt every examiner
of his life and adls, to compare thofe adls
with the habits and cuftoms of the days
in which he lived. Knowing what were
the marriage cuftoms common among
tht folk with whom the poet was early
aflbciated, and feeing that his marriage
was in accordance with their habits, it is
moft natural, and certainly moft charit-

^r:

f^^

(kble/to fuppofe that friends like Johii
Shakeipere and Richard Hathaway fhould I
l>e well pleafed for their families to ,
be connected in marriage. That Ami
Hadiaway was older dian William Shake* '
(pere might be her misfortune, but wat
not her &ult. The *^ mature joax^
^ woman" could not help herf<^; anil
poifibly fhe may have been kept
her idler's roof, denied to die f\
of Shottery, waiting until fuch time
young William Shakeipere could, wkl^
my propriety, marry. At length
heads of houfes agreed that thcjr mij
be contradted ; there was a pleaiant
toWorcefter forthelicenfe; **R.H.''
to fee diat everything was done duty
ill order ; William and Ann were
tied, — and, it is to be hoped, **thqr to
^happily ever after."
. We are indebted to the antiqi
1^ Robert Philipps, for difcovering

Straff ord-upon- Avon. 3 7

bond and licenfe in 1836, in the Confif-
torial Court of Worcefter. In the original
it is full of legal abbreviations, as given in
Mr. Knight's Biography. For the fake
of fimplicity, the full text, as rendered
by Mr. Halliwell, has been adopted
above.

The probability is, that the ceremony
of marriage was performed in the Chapel
of Luddington, a hamlet of the parifli of
Stratford, at a (hort diftance from Shot-
tery, the refidence of Ann Hathaway,
and a place with which the Hathaways
I were connedled. The Marquis of Hert-
j ford, to whom Luddington belonged,
I informed Malone that he remembered
' Acre were tenants of the name of Hath-
away on the eftate.-^ One, John Hath-
away, farmed part of the eftate as late as
^775* It is alfo worthy of note that the
curate of Luddington was the Rev.
Thomas Hunt, who was Ichoolmafter of

— ^w^Muiuy oc a pupu hic

be mafter and pupil were good
bbe h& might be a fbong ioducei
hakefpere to be married at Mr.
hurdi. Lricenfes granted for the
f Stratford, would, of courfe, be
Ue fer all churches and chapek
be pariih, at which marriages
Qowed. Luddington Chapel wm
9wn many years ago, and its re
wt eidier been deftroyed or lofL
Hie annexed Pedigree will gi
ctiSjuy particulars regarding €
^6 £unily, his marriage, a^
le. Writers upon diis fiibjoft
xmionly ftated die marriages ap
Eitt in the ordinary letterori^ ^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 9

fiifing. Where a Pedigree is fet out, the
eye inftrudts the memory much more
cafily and directly, and for this reafon the
prefent method has been adopted.

Allufion has been made to a popular
error regarding Shakefpere's relidence.
Paragraph 10 (p. 21) ftates that the
houfe in which he hved was pulled
down at the commencement of the laft
century. Any reprefentation of that
houfe, to be authentic, muft therefore
bear date previous to 1719. No fuch
plate or picture exifts, and there is no
evidence of any fuch having exifted. In
order to fatisfy public curiofity, two were
invented ; the one publifhed by Malone,
the other by Samuel Ireland, father of the
notorious forger of Vortigern and other
Shakefperian MSS. Malone's pidlure was
a draft upon imagination, drawn by John
Jordan, of Stratford, to whom reference
has been made. Jordan was perfedily

prepared.

40

New Placii

).m

l^^epared^ for a confideration^ to mv<
compoiby of make himfelf generally i
In firft publifhing Jordan's reprefenl
of New. Place, Malone accompanie
drawing with this title, giving it a
in his book, but preferving a con
filence hinifelf as to the value or au
ticity of the drawing: —

^ New Place, from a drawing i
^'margin of an ancient furvey, mac
** order of Sir George Carew, (after
** Baron Carew of Clopton, and E
«^Totncis,) and found at Clopton,
^ Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1786."

Jordan fubfequently confofled di
had invented the porch of the h
And Malone himfelf approved of his
itig Shakeipere's arms, becauie ** they
^ very likely to have been there ;** iu|
Ing, at the £une time, *'neat w<
"^ pales, which might be placed with
•^ ffriety before the lioufc*" Irdax

42 New Placey

" loft or deftroyed." Whether deftroyed
before Ireland made his copy, he omits to
mention ; but it is of no particular con-
fequence, as the impudent attempt at
impofition betrays itfelf.

In the ftatements fet forth by Malone
and by Ireland, it is impoiTible to over-
look thefe fadts : they both aflert that the
drawing was found in the year 1786,
and they both ufe the identical words,
" made by order of Sir George Carew,
" afterwards Baron Carew of Clopton,
" and Earl of Totnefs."

Three improvements of the ftory are
introduced by Ireland, who favours us
with the extra information that the draw-
ing was made by one Robert Trefwells ;
that it was made in 1599, and that it was
in the pofleflion of Mrs. Partheriche, the
laft of the Cloptons. Defpite thefe addi-
tional baits to beguile the public, and give
the ftory an increafed air of truth, it is im-

poflible

Stratford-upon-Avon. 4 3

poflible to avoid the impreffion that Ire-
land was pirating Jordan's invention ; and
that while he was pointing a moral for
future writers, he was adorning a tale at
the moment to anfwer his own purpofes.
On comparing the drawings given by
Malone and by Ireland, it is palpable that
the one is a very slightly altered copy of
the other, or that they are both copies
of fome third drawing. If a third —
poffibly genuine — drawing had exifted,
fuch as Malone aflerted, and Ireland re-
aderted, did exift, executed at the inftance
of Baron Carew, it is evident that fuch
drawing would not have exhibited a
porch of Wren's era [temp. Charles II.)
fluck in front of a drawing made in
1599 {temp. Elizabeth). But we have
Jordan^s confeffion that "he added the
" porch." A genuine drawing, therefore,
in the pofleflion of Mrs. Partheriche,
would have been minus the porch which

44 iVt''Z£; Placey

Jordan added, and minus the arms upon
that porch, which Malone approved, be-
caufe " they were very hkely to have been
" there." What fliall be thought, then,
of Ireland's picture, which prefents to us
the confefled impofition pradlifed by
Jordan, and improved upon by Malone ?

There can be very little doubt that
Ireland took Malone's drawing, added
barge-boards to it, and reproduced it as
copied from an original at Clopton Houfe.

Two queftions of intereft ftill remain
to be afked. Did any fuch drawing ever
exift on the margin of a furvey ? If fuch
did not exift, how came it that Malone
lent himfelf to the impudent invention of
Jordan, and publifhed it as genuine,
knowing that in fome refpedls Jordan had
" improved " it ?

It is hard to believe that any fuch
drawing exifted — certainly not as defcribed
by Malone, on the authority of Jordan —

becaufe

Stratford-upon-Avon. 45

becauie a furvey of his property, made by
Lord Carew in 1599, would not be a
furvey of other people's eftates. Lord
Carew was contemporary with Shake-
Ipere, and might have known that New
Place belonged to him two years prior to
the making of the furvey — if fuch were
ever made. But whether his lordfhip
knew this or not, it is moft certain that
his furveyors, in making plans and draw-
ings of his eftate and the tenements upon
it, would not introduce in the " margin
" of their furvey" a houfe which, at leaft
thirty-fix years previoufly, had been fold
out of the Clopton family. When it is
remembered who and what the "Poet
"Jordan" was, and how ready he was to
perpetrate any impofition upon the public,
it feems moft probable that he invented
the " margin of the furvey made by order
"of Baron Carew," in order to impofe upon
Malone, particularly as the exiftence of

46

Mo PARSTt

fbch a fuTvcj at plan of a ni^leman's
eftate was moft hk/dj to exift.

But was Malone impofed upon ? Did
he believe Jordan's ftatement, and r^ard
the drawing as a genuine copy of an ori-
ginal reprefentation of Shake^ere's houib?

Matone may have been prediipoied- to
he deceived; he may have received 1^
drawing with credence at firA^ as Wat-
pole did Chatterton's records of ancient
painters ;^ but when Jordan got to im-
proting the houfe^ and adorning k widi
very probable coats-of-arms, it is hard to
believe that Malone's faith was blmd
and unfii^edting ; while it feems Aili
harder to condemn him as particefs
crimims in an attempt to pais off li^on
die public, as a '^ great'' Gothic hou& of
the time of Henry VII.» renovated in the
time of Queen £lizabeth (when hou&s
were ftill built in exafdy the fame ^|^
and manner— the only difierence being in

the.

>V.J

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 47

the "debafed" details of ornamentation,
pinnacles, tracery, &c.), a drawing which
only needs to be glanced at, and it is
inftantly felf-condemned.

A fac-fimile of this drawing will be

found in Knight's " Biography of Shake-

fpere" (note on New Place, p. 501). It

has been repeatedly copied and prefented

to the public, fo that it feems unneceflary

to give it one more " laft appearance " in

this place. It and the drawing given

. by Ireland may be called arcades ambo.

I The plate on the oppofite page, which

I accurately reproduces Ireland's, may lafely

I be regarded as twin-brother to the Jordan-

' Malone pidlure, the details being the fame

^ both, with the fingle variation already

I noticed. The barge-boards, as (ten in

j 4e accompanying plate, which Ireland

I forbifhed up and added to the foiled im-

i pofition of Jordan, may well be compared

I to the fwaggering attempt of a gentleman.

48 New Place^

out at elbows and deftitute of a change of
linen, who feeks to impofe upon the public
by mounting a clean collar on a mani-
feftly dirty ihirt.

The reader has only to examine and
compare this pidlure with the picture of
Ockwells to perceive, that though it might
pafs mufter for the " oyfter-fliell " Gothic
of Horace Walpole's fancy, it is as unlike
the genuine domeftic architedlure either
of Henry VII. 's reign, or the " debafed "
of Queen Elizabeth's, as Walpole's lath
and plafter toy-fhop at Strawberry Hill
was a baftard imitation of the ftyle he
pretended to affed:.* It will be obferved
that the " timber and brick " defcribed
by

* The following letter, written by Horace Walpole,
and now among the family papers of the Lord's Dacre,
at Belhus, Eliex, has never been made public. It has
been kindly placed at the difpolal of the author by
Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, Bart., and w^ill be fead
with interell, both as difplaying the fycophantirti llyle
in which Walpole addrelfed his fuperiors, and alfo his
architectural talte : —

[*' Strawberry

Stratford-upon-Avon. 49

by Dugdale have altogether vanished in
Ireland's reprefentation, and that a flat,
pafteboard-like uniformity of frontage is
prefented, in every refpedl oppofite to the
character of true Gothic architedture, in
which the lines are invariably broken up
by

"Strawberry Hill, July nth, 1777.

** I cannot receive joy from Bellhoufe, my dear Lord,
** without giving it, and without telling your Lordihip
** bow particularly kind I took it from Mr. Hardinge,
** in acquainting me with his intended marriage, — I had
" no right to exped fuch attention, but by my zealous
"wifhes for his happinels. When anybody that is
** perfe6Uy content, as he feems to be, thinks of making
** others happy, it is the bed proof of a good heart.
"When mifery is communicative, it may flow from
** want of pity, comfort, advice, or afliftance ; but when
••happinels is neither infolent nor fellilh, the monitor
•* iDuft be benevolence. Without includnig myfelf in
•* this defcription, I enjoy the fatisfadion your Lordfliip,
'* Lady Dacre, Mrs. Harding, and Lord Camden mull
•* have, in the felicity of fo deien ing a young man.
*• It is talking, too, hke an old one, but furely all the
•* rifing young men of the age have not Mr. Harding's
•* good qualities. Your Lordihip did me the honour
**of inviting me to Bellhoufe j it feemed ungrateful
"not to thank you, and yet gratitude was the true
" motive of my filence. I waited till I could tell you
**that I could accept the honour of your oti'er. I
**have had company, and various engagements that

t£ — ^mmw»w%*^^A tnr\^^ *tv%A nwtn nr^t irisf nt liKii«*t'ir (■i»r\rr> I-Ka

50

Ne9

by gables, dormer windows, pofcfae^^!
deep barge-boards» producing
relief^ and infinite varie^. Ireland
duced this wretched drawmg in i8i
Mrs. Partheriche (concerning whom
was £o ignorant that he could not
her name correfily)"^ died in ijgi.

tSiv

€€

f,*.

U

^■'' -i

€€

J--.- -

tt

f*

«r

r-

€€

i-

t€

-;.?

«t

» \i'

ft

'piecarious ftate of H.R.H. the Duke of (So
'healthy and from expeding him and the !
'Enffland.^

"I was (till more flattered, though veiy
' bjr your Lordihip's thinking of oonliildng me 911 j
' improvements at Bellhoufe ; nobody b more atl
' to the beauty of your feat, nor ihall fee your]
^ witih more pleafure, but I have not the
'prefiime to dired them. You have not c
^ evnything there with tafle, my Lord, but to nif |
*oi 'ancienne noblelie;' and finoe cheeiemoi^p
^ be peen, I would have the manfions of M
^powdered with quarterings for diftindion; tfi4j
' Mr. Adams builds for fi> many of thele, I ;
^ would deviate from his ilyle of Filigraine, j

"them with the Tufcan order, which adlnaits.

" ipeaking columns. ^1

l

^ His Royal Highnefi had married die

Widdegrave, daushter of Sir Edward Wdpdkal^

niece to Horace Walpole.

* See quotation, p. 41. * * r.

JV-

:^'.i

yiM.

^!ki^v*>3

\^it^LL^.M,'%

Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 1

the fuppoled original picture was unfor-
tunately deftroyed when in that lady's
pofleflion, it might feem difficult for any
ordinary mortal to make a copy of it in
1 8 14: but difficulties of this fort are
trifles eafily furmounted when genius, like
another Jofhua, repeats the marvel of
Ajalon, and puts back the courfes of time."^

Difmiffingboth Jordan's invention and
Ireland's impofition, there is another
matter of error which deferves remark.
Theobald afferts, that when Shakefpere

** repaired

** W'hen I have a day at command, will Lady Dacre
*'and your Lordrtiip allow me to make ufe of your
"permiffion, and wait upon you. I will not take that
** liberty, however, without alking if my vifit will be
"fealbnable. I am, my dear Lord, with the truefl
" regards,

" Your Lordlhip*8 moft obt.

" humble fervant,

"Horace Walpole."

* Appendix D.

Mm-0mt^-

Si. ? "

&":■

m-

^fcpaired and mo^dkd'' New Flioa^
gave it that name. This is not >t]|e
In the fai!vey of 1590 we find the
lowing entry : — " VilUeknus Ui
^ gen, tenet libere quandam domun^
^eat^m tie Newe Phce eum
^per j»ddit. per annunit v^]d. kSt.

JQoocbiiive evidence is thus affian}ol|
&at years before the Poethad any 1
inl^e property, it was known by the 1
which has ever continued its ^ i
^ words/* Sir Hugh Cloptoa^ wj^H
1^ houie of New Place, happens t^
%]ed it in his will ''the Great
9^ fuch it has been fuppofed wgy
mdinaiy appellation. It is a fnj
in le^ch of a rcafon. Th^ phrals^i
ri(t^r an expreffion on the pait
. Hugh, ap^ied ta his manfion ^ <
with the general Gist tad
the teneonents that iurrounded l^i^
the title of the pkce idc]£ it

-•- m ' ^jiiini.^it i -. ' L j-^

^-^-'

*i!i4-'-''

Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 3

fcrved the honourable delignation ; for
when Queen Henrietta Maria, at the
head of 3,000 foot, 1,500 horfe, belide
artillery and waggons, marched from
Newark, in June, 1643 (on her progrefs
to meet the king at Edge Hill, then pro-
ceeding to Oxford), and was met at Strat-
ford by Prince Rupert, fhe was conduced
to New Place as the moft commodious
rcfidence fitted to receive her Majefty;
and here fhe fojourned (as we are in-
formed) " about three weeks."

Lefs dired:, but important evidence of
the " greatnefs" of New Place is afforded
us by a confideration of the wealth and
fbcial pofition of Sir Hugh Clopton.

This Sir Hugh was a member of the
ancient family of Clopton, of Clopton, in
the parifh of Stratford (Clopton Houfe
being about a mile out of Stratford). The
funily name was derived from the manor,
which had been granted to the Cloptons

in

I

54

V'f

^>.\> ;

c^'. ■.:''

in the reign of Henry IIL^&lliatv
'Hugh's anceftors had been nMn'^ttt^
and importance for at leaft two hiiii#|i|
and fi% years previous to his time,' '**"
.Hugh became alderman of Londofiji
fcnred the office of Lord Majror iiii
feventfa year of the reign of Heniy ^1
1492. His name ftill lives SreiM]
green in Stratford; for out of tl^.^
dance which he amafled as a wool^l
in London, he not only adorned his j
place with the "Great Houfe/'fe
endeavoured to beautify the toWtt
and alfb to benefit it by lus charitj^l
the G^ad Chapel of the Holy Ci
joining New Place, there is a im
which was eredted to his membrjrl
requeft of the Corporation of 2
by that Sir John Clopton, his
whole marriage with Barbaim>
brought back New Place into ii||^
ton family.

krf;^^. ' i:;..;7-%4*?f-s

Stratford-upon-Avon. ^^

The monument tells us of his

ti

pious

^ works, fo many and fo great, that they
^ ought to be had in everlafting remem-
^brance,efpecially by this town and parifli."
" He built ye ftone bridge over Avon,
' with ye caufey at ye weft end ; further

* manifefting his piety to God and love to

* this place of his nativity (as ye centurion
' in ye Gofpel did to ye Jewifli nation and

* religion by building them a fynagogue),
'*for at his fole charge this beautiful
" Chappel of ye Holy Trinity was rebuilt,
" temp. H. VII., and ye crofs ile of ye
" PariOi Church."

The infcription further relates his cha-
rities to the poor of Stratford and of .
London: — £ioo to poor houfekeepers,
100 marks on their marriage to twenty
poor maidens, both in Stratford and Lon-
don; making of bridges and highways;
founding exhibitions at Oxford and Cam-
bridge ; leaving money for poor prifoners.

56 New PlacCy

money to hofpitals, to the Mercers' Com-
pany, and " to ye parfon of ye parifh
"where he lived" (a wholefome cuftom
that has fingularly fallen into defuetude).
After all legacies and expenfes are paid,
he leaves the refidue of his goods and
chattels to "repairing decayed churches,"
"mending bridges and highways,'' "main-
" taining poor children at fchool," and in
portioning " honeft maidens."

" This charitable Gent, died a Batcheler,
" 15th Sept., 1496, and was buried in St.
" Margaret's Church, Lothbury."

The ancient and beautiful^ltar-tomb
among the Clopton monuments in Strat-
ford Church, without any effigy, but with
quatrefoil panels, originally fitted with
armorial bearings in brafs, is mofl: pro-
bably erefted to his memory, becaufe it
ftands on the precife fpot where, accord-
ing to his will, he direded that he fhould
be buried, had he died at Stratford ; and

alfo

f

^: r>-

\

. «-,iiu i j)jr^

< IMS ' liOtA Afp^OPf

^^B^ioy, ftod of the Wool

[|i^lB^lx)iie*^ beloBgedL

^ t&n» probabllif)^

i|i|be'^ of the-pdtt^^
^Kefks of ihiddi^^ <
-ifreadjr (hown-ditt

^^HttghCloplbn.
lite ffaidds wcMi$i

LWod Staplera, afid^-
red with e»6i^

MVatk

m^i^Vf:^'

^"^f^^.

S8

1%e quarterings zgm^bg fmm^
^dilplay in the '' Viiitatioa of W^^
"^(birc,** and therefore ibmeidbat ftreng
etiing the aflertion <^ die ^^ViBtSLim
diat the Cloptons and the Cockfields;^
timp. EAwzrd I. two diftind £mM
md not that Walter de Cockfield. m
Clopton^ who aflluned the furnaiffie
1^^ i Cockfidd, which name continued m^
down to the time of Sir Hugh Cl<^
grandfather, temp. Richard ILyafterWIi
It di&ppeared, and Clopton oi^'^
ufed J

. In his Survey of London and ^
minilo: (under the title ^'Msidm
3towe alludes to Sir Hugh, as fbU^yfil
'' Sir Hugh Clopton, all his U6s^
^ Bathchelaur, Maior, 1492, buried^i^l
*' Margaret's in Lothbury, 1496^^^^
^ dwelt in Lothbury, where loMplI
^ym the fign of the fFmd-A^^
**1Prhefe Sir Robert Large^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 9

"Lord Maior, had lived before.* This
" man was born at Clopton, in Warwick-
" fhire, a mile from Stratford-upon-Avon,
" where he builded a fair ftone bridge of
"eighteen arches, and* glazed the chancel

" windows

I * This Sir Robert Large (Lord Mayor of London
I in 1439, died 1441), was the Mercer to whom Caxton
I was apprenticed when he came to London from the
; Weald of Kent. Stowe lliows us that Caxton and Sir
Hugh both hved in the fame houfe in Lothbury, and
we know they were both members of the Company of
Mercers. When we remember that Caxton went over
to Ghent and Bruges in the interell of the Mercers'
Company, when the wool trade was futiering through
the quarrel between England and Philip the Good of
Burgundy, and that Sir Hugh Clopton was not only
the fuccelfor of Sir Robert Large in his houfe and place
of bulinefs, but alfo a dillinguilhed member of the
Company of Mercers, it feems almoft a certainty that
Caxton and Sir Hugh mull have been well known to
one anotherj and it is polhble, perhaps probable, that by
Sir Hugh the firll books printed in England, "The Game
"of Chefs," publilhed 1474, the "Poems of Chaucer,"
"iEfop's Fables," "Reynard the Fox," and others, would
be taken down to his Great Houfe in Stratford, where
the wonder and admiration of his neighbours would
make the walls echo with the name of Caxton, the
introducer of the invention which, in little more than
a century later, was to carry forth from that fame houfe
the immortal thoughts of him, whole words, winged by
Caxton's aid, have flown from pole to pole.

6o New Flact\

€(

"windows of the fame Parifli Church
"where his arms did ftand. Which,
"as William Smith, fometime Rouge
" Dragon, hath obferved, differed much
" from the coat fet up for him, painted

in a target, in the Mercers' Hall,
"which indeed was the arms of the
" Cloptons of Suffolk."

Thefe fad:s prefent to the mind one
of England's worthies, a true Chriftian
gentleman in the fulleft and beft fenfe of
the phrafe. It is a matter of furprife that
a man of fuch excellent parts and charac-
ter, and fo intimately connected with the
houfe and place where Shakefpere lived,
fliould be fo much overlooked, as he is, by
writers upon Stratford and its antiquities.

It is not, however, upon his genuine
nobility of characfler that we have here
to dwell ; but upon his tafte, his love
for art, and his delight in architecture.
It is fomething more than a fanciful

idea

Stratford-upon-Avon. 6 1

idea for us to believe that the tafte
of Sir Hugh Clopton influenced the
mind of Shakefpere. Inftead of a fancy,
this feems to be a fad:. The "New
" Place," which he eredted, was deftroyed
fomewhere about 1720, and no repre-
fentation of it remains to portray it to
us; but one piece of building, within a
dozen yards of the ipot where it flood, is
indicative of Sir Hugh's tafle. The nave
of the Guild Chapel was rebuilt by
him, at precifely the fame period that
Dean Balfhall (then Vicar of Stratford),
was rebuilding the chancel of the
Parifli Church, to which it is clear
that Sir Hugh generoufly contributed.
Stowe informs us that the perpen-
dicular tracery of the windows in this
chancel was filled with ftained glafs, at
^ die expcnfe of Sir Hugh Clopton, whofe
e. arms Dugdale faw emblazoned upon
ul the glafs. There can be no difBculty

62 New Place^

in conjecturing what fort of reiidence
" New Place " muft have been — how
architecturally correft — how excellent in
proportion — how artiftic in defign — how
pure in the ftyle and detail of its ornamen-
tation — how deferving of its mafter's de-
fignating it the " Great Houfe " of Strat-
ford, when we refer to his will, and com-
pare its fpecial provifions for the repairing
of churches, the building of bridges, the
conftrudlion of highways, with the work
that he did himfelf accomplifli in erecting
Stratford Bridge, building the nave of the
Holy Crofs Chapel, and aiding in the
eredlion of the chancel of the Parifli
Church. Thofe portions of the Stratford
churches, in which Sir Hugh was inter-
efted, are, even amidft the lavifli richnefs
of ecclefiaftical architecfture in Warwick-
fhire, juftly reckoned fuperb fpeciniens
of the Perpendicular period.

Stratford-upon-Avon. 6 3

the lord and mafter in 1597. The houfe
was then rather more than one hun-
dred years old. It would need to be
" repaired and modelled," particularly
as it had belonged to three refpedlive
families within the half century before
Shakefpere purchafed it, and had pafled
out of the Clopton family about a year
prior to his birth. Of the repairs that
he made, we know nothing ; but it is
cafy to underftand how much his mind
may have been imprefled with the ftately
beauty of New Place from his earlieft
childhood. No inhabitant of Stratford,
feeing Sir Hugh's " Great Houfe '' and
the church that he alfo rebuilt alonglide
it, could fail to know them and to admire
them, much lefs a boy of Shakefpere's
obfervation and appreciative mind. New
Place adjoins the Guild Chapel and the
Grammar School. There the boy was
taught; and day by day, as he went

bounding

64 New PlacCy

bounding forth from school, the firft
objed: that met his view was Sir Hugh's
houfe, next the church. While yet a
child of between three and four years of
age, a fale took place. He may, on the
very day of the fale, have been holding
to his nurfe's fide, and making his earlieft
obfervations upon men and things, as he
paiTed the chapel of Holy Crofs, and
have feen the family of Underbill arrive
to acquire pofleffion of " New Place."
All this is perfedly poflible; and if
this or anything fimilar occurred, it
might imprefs upon the boy's thoughts
that New Place had been fold/ Might it
not again ? Who can tell, whether in his
early days the boy Shakefpere's mind had
not been taught by old Sir Hugh's tafte
to appreciate and admire the beautiful in
art ; had not been fired with ambition to
go to London, as Sir Hugh (the pride of
Stratford, and its benefadtor) had done,

and

Stratford-upon-Avon. 6 5

and by dint of labour and perfeverance to
make an independence, and return like
him to Stratford, and live honoured and
beloved among the townsfolk of his
native place ? Who can tell w^hether
this fame boy may not often and often
have flood ruminating under the fhadows
ofthebuttreflesof Holy Crofs, admiringly
examining the gables and cafements, the
porch and antique barge-boards of the
"great houfe," and refolving, fhould any
iale take place there again, if he were a
man and had the means, it fhould have
but one mafter — one, himfelf poiTefTed
of taftes like Sir Hugh's, who would
" repair " and preferve the anceftral
manfion?

In any biographies of Shakefpere or
Iiiftories of Stratford which may have
been written heretofore. New Place has

im

m

fi ■':':'

tften litde more than mentadoed. A

. ^ufe was built upon it at iiich a date^

rj^ild at another/ purchafed by ShakeQierei

'Ht another^ and in it he died. No one

has ever as yet opened the pages oi

rancient records to tell us much more

libiDut it than that it belonged to ^ei

CI<Qi|>tbn family^ and was built by Sir

Htghdopton. I

" ^The time has perhaps come when

It IS' defirable that the public ihould

Ibecome poffefled of more particulars

j^mcerning it ; in fad:, when every avail-

id:de information fliould be produced to

relate its hiftory.

ThiSLt it was ShakeQ)ere's dwelliilg-
place is the caufe of its intereft in publie
efteem ; but that intereft will be in vat
degree decreaied if we know fomctt^g^
about the ailbciations of the place, aont^
the family to which it chiefly bddnj
e^jedudly as that family muft have

well

StratJord-upon-Avon* 6 7

w^eU known to Shakefpere ; and members
of it^ that were his contemporaries, play
no obfcure part in the hiftory of his
times. Whoever he may be that under-
takes to give the world a true and fuffi-
cient account of New Place muft inform
his readers concerning the Cloptons of
Clopton Houfe, fince the hiftory of New
Place and its varied fortunes is as clofely
twined around the Clopton ftem as the
ivy around the oak.

On the oppoiite page will be found a
pedigree fet forth, which has appeared
abfolutely eifential to the accompUniment
of the author's purpofe. By reference to
it the reader will be able to follow him
much more eafily; and in order to
fecure perfpicuity — as the fame names are
repeated in feveral defcents — thofe have
been alphabetically labelled to which it
fcems neceflary to diredt particular atten-
tion.

68

Nhv Flact,

It has been fhown (p. i6)».
Place was buflt in the reign of]
not later than 1 490^ by Sir Hugh ^
jRxmeiiy Lord Mayor of London
grce Aa), Sir Hugh was a yoi
of John Clopton, of Clopton
Henry VI,, — and being a yoi
both he and his brother John
their fortunes as merchants of the
in London. Dying a bachelor. Sir i
bequeathed his refidence of New
to his elder brother's grandfon and
William Clopton (Ab), in whom
ingly both Clopton Houie and
Place became vefted.

The will of Sir Hugh Clopton,
ing date 14th Sept, 1496, was
at Lambeth on the 4th day of
in the fame year. He defcribes
therein as ^\ citezein, mercer, and
man of London," and defires diat H^
die in London, or within twenty

■.#^

New Placey

will as for my landes and rentes a
copy holde that Thomas Clopton th
1 I be feofFed in rcmayne lioly to hyi
hcires after my decesse fur ever and fc
lie to the ri^ht heires of tlie lordship c
And to JViUiani Clopton I bequeith m
fse in Stratford upon Avon and all othe
,s and tenements beinye in IVilrnecote in th
toirne and Stratford icith reversion an
and duetes thereunto belonc/inr/e remayiie t
tsin JVni. Clopton and for lak of issue o
remayne to the riglit heires of the lore
'f Clopton for ever being heires males Al
that CC mare that Doctor lialsale dcly vei
by the advise and discrecion of my executo
•yed to the nse behoofe and raoost profitt
oUcge of Stratford-upon-Avon by the i
aid advice of the wardeyn with other s
s and honest men of the towne An'
housing and teuementes as I have v
3wne of Caleys I will remayn to my (
Clopton the elder and also the rev
3 house that I dwell in att London a
s of the same.

^ the tJiquifition pojt mortem

Hugh Cloptorij it appears t

feised of the following pro^

Yr\fA. • -

Stratford-upon-Avon. j i

De uno burgagio jacente in Chapell strete in

Stretfordpredicta ex oposito capelle ex parte boriali

et de uno dimidio burgagio jacente in Ely strete

alias dicta Swynne strete et de uno burgagio in

High strete et de uno orreo ct gardino jacente in

Henley strete et de uno dimidio burgagio jacente

in Church strete in Stretford prcdicta et dc duobus

toftis quatuor virgatis terre quatuor acris prati et

viginti acris pasture cum pertinentijs in Bryuge-

toume in parochia de Stretford Et quod idem

Hugo ante obitum suum fuit seisitus in dominico

®uo ut de feodo de uno teneraento jacente in

S^fatford prcdicta in Bother strete vocato Balsals

P^ace et de uno gardino jacente in Church strete

®^ de uno tenemento jacente in High strete super

^I'lieram de le Come market in quo Johannes

-"^lamy inliabitat et de aleo tenemento in

y^<Mpel strete buttante super le Come market

^^ quo "Wolfridus Smyth inhabitat in Stretford

P'^dicta.*

Thefe documents will fhow that Wil-
^^^m Clopton (Ab), who had inherited
"^^ Clopton eftates in i486, received a

very

According to this will, it appears that all this
P*^^^>erty here recited was demifed and let to Roger
*^*K«t and Elizabeth his wife, for term of life of tlie
^^*^^ Roger.

72 New Plact\

very confiderable addition to his patri-
mony by the death — ten years later — of
his great uncle, in 1496.

But, together with this accefTion, he
found himfelf mailer of two confiderable
manfions, removed little more than a mile
from one another: viz., Clopton Houle
adjoining the town, and New Plac^^
within it.

Whether this gentleman kept up bot:!^
the houfes there is no evidence to fliow^ >
but as we have proof of New Place beir^ 5
let by his fon (B), it feems probable th^^
William Clopton (Ab) contented himf^^^
with the patrimonial refidence of Clopton>
and fet the example which his fon i<y^'
lowed. Having enjoyed his eftate f^^
twenty-five years, he died in 1521, little
more being known of him than that f^^
fome offence to the Crown he receiv^^
a pardon from Henry VIII. ,

By the i?iqiiifition poji mortem^ it ap^

pear5

\^§^^ii^.4vm.

73

i^Vstt feifed of the following
^'lijbatford, and retained pofldf-
l£nr Place : —

rbotSBf^ jacente in Btrata Tocata Okqpel
saper Aven ex parte boriali
Triiiitatis in Stratford predicta
predieto et de ono borgagio jacento
Mrete predicta nno capite inde abut^
Hngonem Baynold ex parte Anstrali
^|i|Ate inde abnttante yerBus quandam
^;f9ieala]a Skepe strete ex parte Boriali
lynrgagio jacente in strata Tocata
, in Stratford predicta uno cq^to
ymnB fhndum Ma^tri Oilde Sancte
^jde Stratford ex parte Boriali et a)ic^
abnttante yersna stratam Tocatam
^0 parte Anstrali ac de ono bnrgagio
lilinto Toeata High Hreie in Stretford
eipite inde abnttante Tersua tene^
Gilde Sancte Trinitatia predicte
et alio capite inde abnttante
Staffordahire ex parte BoriaK
IQKI Buq^agio jacente in atoata
r in Stratford predicta ac edam*
►^^mnte^ in ttrata vocata Belief
piedieta ao de quodam afcopa
^ ]9>d(p i<r0te qnam Bobertna
\kk ocenpat iet de nno bmgagio

■fi

•I

m

T^'^i?a

74 Ay^IC^ PidCCy

jacente in strata vocata Rother market in Stretford
prcclicta in quo Dc^onisia Aylys vidua raodo inha-
bitat ac do uno bur«:aj^io jacente in strata vocata
Grcmhul strete in Stretford predicta in quo
Kieliolaus Norrcs modo inhabitat necuou de uno
bur^aj^io jacente in strata vocata Church strete in
Stretford j)redicta &c Xecnon de alio burgagio ja-
cente in Church strete in Stratford predicta in quo
Johannes Ashurste modo inliabitat uno capite inde
abuttante versus Episcopura AVigorncnsis ex parte
Oceidentali et alio capite inde abuttante versus
vicnni Regis vocatum Church strete ac de duobus
gardinis in Stretford predicta abuttantibus versus
Joliem liubandys ex parte Boriali ct versus dictum
Magistrum (Jilde predicte ex parte Australi nec-
non de dimidio l)urgagio jacente in Elystrefe in
Stratford predicta nunc dimisso et lucato pro
quodam orreo.

The above William (Ab) was fucceeded
by his fon, bearing the fame name (B),
who lived in pofleflion of the combined
eftates from 1521 to 1560, at which
latter date he died. His will is dated
January 4th, and we learn from the in-
quifitipn that he expired on the fame day
at Clopton. The death of this William

Clopton

Stratford'Upon - Avon. j 5

Clopton (B) brings to light the firft fa6t
explanatory of the caufes which led to
New Place fubfequently becoming the
property of Shakefpere. The will bears
the name of " William Bott," one of the
attefting witneiTes. There are traces of
Botts in the regifter of Stratford, though
the author has vainly fearched for fome
mention of this perfon, whofe name is on
record as one of the practifing folicitors
of Stratford at the period.

June 2, 1575. — William, sonne of Robt. Bott
(buried).

September 2, 1576. — Sonne to Edward Botte.

July 18, 1588. —Margery, daughter of Ralph
Bott, deceased.

January 19, 1591. — Anne Botte, deceased.

The probability is that the Botts were
only profeflionally connected with Strat-
ford, and belonged to fome outlying
parifh or hamlet. However this may
be, it is certain that William Bott was a

lawyer

'](> New Placey

lawyer in pradtice at Stratford,* and that
he was profeflionally engaged by William
Clopton of Clopton (B).

After his death, the inquifition was
taken on the 17th day of June, 2nd of
Elizabeth (1560), at Warwyck, and the
Jurors found that he died feised (inter
alia) in his demefne as of fee —

De et in imo tcnemento sive burgagio cum
pcrtincntijs in Stratford super Aven in dicto comi-
tatu Warr in vico ibidem vocato la Chappell
strete modo in tenura sive occupacione Willielmi
Bott.

The fame inquifition informs us, that
the fon and heir William Clopton (C)
was at that date *' twenty-two years of
age."

In due courfe of years this William

(q

* Attorneys of Stratford about that date : — Mr.
Thomas Trulfcll, Mr. Wilham Court, Mr. Edward
Davies, Mr. William Bott, Mr, Richard Spooner,
Mr. Richard Symmons.

I

Stratford-upon-Avon. jj

(C) came alfo to die, as the pedigree
, fhows, in the year 1592.

The Book of Adminiftrations, in an

entry regarding the goods of this gentle-
j man, reveals to us not only the bufinefs,
j but alfo. the blood relationfhip between
' the Cloptons and the Botts; and thus
1 we receive a complete infight into a
! tranfaftion that feems fingular, regarding
I which no previous w^riter has given us

any information.

i The foUow^ing extradt is moll impor-

' tant : —

Octobris, 1597.

j Duodecimo die emanavit

i wiLXiELMcs commissio Johanni Bott,

I CLOPTON. PROXIMO CONSANGUINEO

Willielmi Ciopton. iiuper t^'a^'J

\ T • • 1 ^1 • Johauub, 1CC3.

dum vixit de Clopton^ m

comitatu Warwici, de-

functi, habentis, &c., ad

Adminutrmtio administrandum bona, ju-

.nS?m^.e ra, et credita ejusdcm, per

M*ij, i69i. Annam Clopton, eius relic- Johanni?,

tarn, jam deiuuctam, non

administrata,

78 New Placcy

adiiiinistrata, de bene^ &c.,

in persona Thome White, busij^

notarij publici, procurato-

ris, legitime constitnti, ju-

rate.

Ib06.

In what way John Bott happened ^^
be "proximo conlanguineo" to Willie- ^^^
Clopton the author muft confefs his pv^'
found ignorance; for Heralds' CoUe:^^
can give him no relief. No doubt the^^^
has been an omilTion in the pedigr^^>
wherever the link between the Botts a^*^^
Cloptons occurred; but the above ^^'
trad: places it beyond all queftion that, ^"
Oftober, 1597, one John Bott, as t^^
neareft of kin in the male line, after tX^^
death of Miftrels Anne Clopton in 15^ '
the widow of William, adminiflered tX^^
eftate, it is to be prefumed, as the frier^^
and relative of the Countefs of Totne^^^^
and Anne Clopton, of Sledwick, h^^
fifter, the co-heireiTes of the late WilliaX^
Clopton (C).

8o Nc^ Place,

his late father's tenant, lawyer, and hi
own blood relative.

The tranladlions between Bott anc
William Clopton were conliderable, foi
by the indenture which follows it will b(
(ttn that Bott had a knack of gainim
poilellion of land belonging to the Clop-
ton eftate.

Indentur in? Willm Clopton et Willm Bott.

CfjiS EnlrrntUrC made the x*'» dayc of Januanii
in the syxtr ycre of the reigne of our souaigc
ladye Elizabeth by the jnrrace of (Jod quene •
EnghiTid Fr.niiR'O and Irelaiule defeiidor of tb
faith kc hctwriie AVillm Clopton of Clopton in th
conntye ol' \VaiT Es(inyer on the one partye ar'
AVilhn Ijott of Stnitfoi-de iippon Avon in the Siu
Countyo pHMithniian on tlie other partye "vv\^
nesseth t]];jt the .^aid Willm Ck)pton for and
conse'deracon of and f(^r dyiise soiTies of money
liym in liande att and before the ensealinge hei^
of whereof and wlierewvth the said Willm Clopt^
doth aekiiowlediie hyni selfe thereof well ar:
trulye satyslyed eontented and paid and the siv-^
Willih Eott his heires exeentors and adrainistr^
tors thereof elerely aeqnyted exoixated and dy"

chartk^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 8 1

chardged by these pntes hath g}^ven and graunted

bargayned and solde and by these psentcs doth

clerelye and frelye gyve graunte bargayne and

sell to the said Willfh Bott all those liis tliree

pastures of grounde called the nether Ingon alias

Ington and all that his meadowe called Synder

ii^eadowe hinge and beinge in nether Ingon alias

Ing^on in the paryshe of Bisshopps ITampton in

*lie said County e of Warr no we or late in the

tenure or occupacon of Kycharde Charnocke and

♦^ illm Bay lyes of Welon and the assignes of the

^^icj Kycharde Charnocke and all that his wynde-

^^yll foure yardes of en^able land and twentye and

^yue leyes scituate lyinge and beyiigo in the

** ^*ildes of olde Stratforde and in the home nexte

^diojTiinge to the said feildes and all that his

^^adowe lyinge in Shotterye meydowe nowe or

*^te in the occupacon of John Combes and John

l-«e\vys alias Atkyns To have and to holde the

Said pastures meadowes wyndemylles lando and

^^ys and all and singuler there apptenaunces to

^^© said Willfh Bott his heires and assigiies for

^^more to the onlye use and behoufe of the said

'' illm Bott his heires and assignes for ever And

^^o the said Willm Clopton hath bargayned &

^^Ide by these psentes all and all maner of evi-

^^ces deedes wrytinges chers and mynymcntes

^t be touchynge and concnynge onlye the

Pelisses or any parte or parcell of them and the

^d evidences dedes wrytinges chers and myny-

^entes the said Willm Clopton couenaunteth and

graunteth

82 New Placcy

gTauntetli by tbese psentes to and wytli tlie s£
AVillm Bott his executors or assign es to delyi
or cause to be delyued to liym tlie said Wil
Bott his executors or assignes before the leaste
Easter next ensiiinge tlie date hereof and h
therinore the said Wilhn Clopton for hira 1
heires executors and administrators couenaunti
and grauntt4li by these psentes to and wyth t
said WiUm Bott that he the said Willfh Clopt
shall before the feaste of Easter make or cause
be made to the said Wilhn Bott his heires or j
siofnes a good sner suffvcyente laufull and inde
cybh» estate in the lawe in fee symjdo of and
the said pastures meadowes leyes of pasti
wyndemvU and errable lande wyth all and sinj:
ler there a]^ptenaunces be yt by fyne feoffarae
dede or dedes inrolled release confirmacon
couye wyth voucher or vouchers wyth warrant
agaynste all men or wyth out warrantye as cii
and shalbo deuysed or aduised by the learn
counccll of the said Willni Bott his heires or :
signes and furthermore the said Wilhn Clopt
for hym his heires executors and administrat
couenaunteth and grannteth by these psentes
and wyth the said Willm Bott his executors a
a<hninistrators that the said pastures meado
wyndemyll and errable lande att the daye of i
date hereof be clerelyo dyscharged of all and fr
all former bargaynes sales dowres ioyntors lea
statutes nlchaunte and of the staple Recognisan
iudgementes fynes amcyamentes condempnaa

Stratford'iipofi'Avon. 8 3

ai^cl all other chardges aud incomberanccs what-
soever they be the rentes and suices to the cheifo
lot^cie or lordes of the fee from hensforth dewc
a^c3 accustomed to be paide onlye excepted and
^Lso the said Willm Clopton for hym his heires
e^ ^outers and administrators couenaunteth and
^^^^xunteth by these psentes to and wytli the said
^* illih Bott his heires executors and administra-
tor^ that he the said Willm Clopton and Anne
'^s w^^ffe shall before the fourthe daye of Maye
^^X:te ensuinore the date hereof knowledge a fyne
^^iore one of the queues maiestyes iustyces of the
^^ffes benche or comon place to be levyed be-
^^^r^o the Queues Justices at Westm of and for the
sai<J pastures meadowe wyndemyll Icyes of pas-
tJU*o and errable lande wyth all and singular there
^Pptenaunces and also the said Willm Clopton for
"rto his heires executors and administrators coue-
^^^xiteth and graunteth by these presentes to and
^tt the said Willm Bott his heires executors and
assignes that he the said Willm Clopton and his
nexreg shall att all tymes hereafter and from tyme
t^ tyme when and as often as he or they shalbc
thereunto reasonablye required by the said Willui
"^tt his heires or assignes doo suffer and cause
^ l>€ done and suffered all and euy suche further
^^ and actes thinge and thinges as shalbe rea-
^^blye required by the learned councell of the
said Willm Bott his heires or assignes for the fur-
ther assurance and suer makinge of the premisses
^^ the said Willm Bott his heires or assignes for

euermore

84 Neiv Place,

eucrmore In wjtnesse whereof eyther party to
these pseiite Indentures in?chaungeably have
putto there seales the daye and yere firste above
AVTytten Et meniorand qd tcio die Aprilis annc
Supscript pdcus Wills Clopton venit coram dca
dna Regina in CanceHar sua apud Westm et re-
cognouit Indentur pdcani et ofhia et singula in

eadem content et spificat in forma supdict

January, in the 6th of Eliz., would b
1563-4— three months before Shakeiper
was born. Upon the authority of Whelea
the author has affumed that the fale a
New Place occurred the year previoi
(1563). Wheler is commonly moft acii:^"
curate, and the above fale gives weight tr=^<^
his aflertion, becaufe it proves that Bo ^^^
was at that time making purchafes fror'^"
William Clopton. The Fines of 1563 ai — '^
filcnt, though it muft be obferved thi^-^
there is a total abfence of all Fines in th^
Record Office for Michaelmas Tern^
of that year ; which is to be accounted
for by the fa6t that the plague was

raging^

pi i^ iti6ft probable tfatt die

^^.WMer had met with ibme
teimee of it for which the author
litttiiedty iearched among public

itff Walam Bott putchafcd New
(t.japQii ilpeculation appears moi^
pei becaufe it only remained in his
$Stk £ot die period of four years.
pivr^ Michaelmas Term^ 9th £liz«^
Ifdittt the fale by Bott to Under^
at that date.

. iwrarifise?.

||(^iab oonoordiA jf& in Chir

tai wl ontftmo 8Si Martixii JEomo regnc^

pi ipA Angl FraaS efe Hataiie It^ine

Mb &o a oonqQ nono coram Jaodbp

HfmlUm Jolle Walahe & Bico Haipur

ffii dBe Bfgme fidelib^ time ibi Sieii*

nh tTna^iqrll qudf et WillABoMe

86 New Place,

I'uit iiit eos in eadfn Cur scilt qd pclci Willms Botte
et Elizabeth et Albanus recogfi pdct ten cum ptiii
esse jus ipins AVillmi Uuderehyll ut itt que idem
AVilliTis tiet de done pdcor AVillmi Botte et Eliza,
hetli et Alljani Et itt reniiser et quiet'^ clam de
ipis Willino Botte et Elizabeth et Albano et hered
suis pdco Willino Underehyll et hered suis imppin
Et pterea idem AVillms ]k)tte concessit p se et
liered suis qd ipi warant^ pdco AVillmo Undere-
hyll et hered suis jklict teii cum ptifi conf' pdcm
A\'illin Botte et hered suos impjim Et ult'ius
idem Albimus concessit p se et hered suis qd ipi
warant' pdco AVillmo Undei'chyll et hered suis
pdict ivn cum ptin cont^ pdcin All)anu et hered
snos iuippm Et insup ijdem AVillms Botte et
Eliztibeth concesser p so et hered ipius Elizabeth
qd ijii wai-ant^ pdco Willino Uuderehyll et hered
suis pdca tcii cum ptiii cont'' pdcam Elizabeth et
hered suos imppm Et p hac recogii remissione
quietaclam Avarant^ fine et concordia idem AVillnis
Undereliyll dedit pdcis Willino Botte et Elizabeth
ct Albano quadraginta libras sterlingor.

[Endorsed are the proclamations secundum for-
mam statuti.]

By this fale New Place was refcued
from the hands of a grafping lawyer, and
pafled into the poflefTion of a family long

connedled

Will. Underbill d|
)lvcrhampton, co. Staff., Esq

liel Undcrhill. = daugh. w bI
I of Longiipl

Undcrhill = rst. d. of Sla.wJ
•r 80 years of Marstc.

ViT Ralph

Edward Underbill
ad a fresh lease of Eatington
' for 100 years, in 1541.

Conjxreve
;o. of

Daughters

I

Will]
of Idllo
Ob. Ma
Buried

I (B) i5h

= William Underbill

of Idlicote, Esq. Born
Buried July 13, 1597. De

Will dated Jul

Jrcules Underbill = Bridget,
Ited at Compton, d. of John
is brother Fulkc Carlctoi

1st. Alice,
>f Sir Thos. Lucy of
Cbarlecotc, Knt.

= Sirl

(D) I
Hercules Underbill
ot Idlicote, Esq.

Sara

Will

(E)l
Samuel Underbill.

Ca

88 New Place,

redeem their eftate from the Repub-
licans for £iyijj 8j-. 6d.

William Underhill (B) was the perfoi:
by whom the purchafe of New Placr
was made. By referring to the wall c:
his father (in the Appendix G) it i
evident that the Underbills pofleire
property in Stratford-upon-Avon; an
therefore the purchafe of New Plac=
by William Underhill is readily under*
ftood. His name is repeatedly foun
among the fines levied about the yearr
1570 to 1590,'^' proving that he wi*
anxious to accumulate as much lande-^
property as he could in the neighbour"
hood of Stratford-upon-Avon ; in fadl
that he was ambitious to eftablifh th
younger branch of the Underbills a-
Idlicote in as great affluence as the fenio-
branch at Eatington. It was an ambition

deftine^

* Appendix G.

^Aiim.

•}^^

i|S4i&ppcmteii in die pei^m
^ kiirtikdlN^ (C)» idu) having married
P»|Bs 4nig^ter of Sir Thomas lAicy,
had the misfortune to be^
^«idof^€i% and then to become
of a widow^ the relid of one
a rich Dutdi merchant in
This lady Pranged Sir William
ilpd fife> 1^ him to London^ and
iitto conmia-cial ipeculation»
in the gunpowder trade;
Were blown up, and the pro-
to the winds at the &me
ion, Hercules (D), was in*-
liOttg with his Either, and the
|p|i dbat in 1754 the ef^te was
Hon* Heneage Legge, by the
iRttmel (E)» whde fifter Alice
wkh the family c^the Ijacfi
ha;ving married the Rev.
nd, Redor of Hampton
his uncle, William

IjOCf

^it'^

.*>:'

i

Lucy, D.D., in the rcdtery, v/z^'^i^
monument to the memory of Mr. Hml^
mond, and Alice Underhill, his wifi^ m^.
be feen in the veftry of the modonfy^
rebuilt church of Hampton Lucyr ^bt
apfidal eaft end of which, lately added bjf;
the prefent owner of Charlecote, aided 1>|t
the genius of Mr. Gilbert Scott, has traal^;
formed this church into a fort of fhuA
cathedral ; and, in the midft of the beatt«>L .7
ties and affociations of Hampton Luqf ^ '
and Charlecote, has furnifhed the lovers of ^
archited:ure with a central obje<!9: upoa r
which the eye refts with gratitude to the
liberality and tafte of the prefent maftct
of Charlecote. ^

From 1567 to 1597 William Unddffi.
hill continued the proprietor of N<^;
Place.* It is vain at this remote date^^l
ipeculate upon the caufes which lod f||^ v

* Appendix H.

m^i .

'*jtOOtt*

91

i^ porchaie of New Place.
liktn was no neceflity for
^Uj^aJiill to fell any portion of
On the contrary, we have
proof that he had the deiire and
^i^ inoreaie his landed eftate; and
; eftimate its value when we recall
before ftated, that his ion. Sir
during the Civil War was glad
)d for it, by paying dowa
There is one fa<% concerning
of New Place which is worth
It was jfold to Shakefpere in the
^l^erm of 1597; and Underbill
dead and buried July 13th
iiftie^ycar. .

rather favours the idea that
was fold from ibme private
modve to Shakefpere; for it
was not fold as a bufineis
' WSliam Underbill is known
^I^Mmmulator of landed pro«»

perty

I--

7^

petty, not as a mafi wi» had ^
iity to part with a fin^ acre iof 1^
eftate. It is probable that SbaiM%ii|
was acquainted with the Uikferfafll^ iMJl
it may be that William Underfalfl tiMi
aw;are of the Poet's defire to pofi^ M/&^
felf of the property at New Place. Nwii \
Place would not be a refidence at
Fulk, or Hercules— the future Sir
cules^ Royalift, and favourite of Kk^^
Charles— would be ever likely to rttSdl||i
particularly as Idlicote itfelf was h cO»
tiguous to Stratford. It will be feenbf
the pedigree that Fulk died the year Hiicl
his ^ther, and the inheritance f^ii&d W
his brother Hercules, a minor
Fulk Underbill died the year befofte
father's death, a reafon for the &h
New Place Virould have been fupfrilte#
As it is, the probabilities are ftxwt^l^
favoiu* of the belief that Shak^«rft
perfonally intimate with the Ult(

nr'iifTl

Stratford-upon-Avon. 9 3

family; and both Fulk and Hercules,
youths of about feventeen and nineteen
years of age, were poflibly anxious that
before their father died, the Poet and
aftor (hould be gratified in his wifh, and
New Place fecured to him. The fadls,
however, are thefe: in Eafter Term, 1597,
Ae fale was effefted, and on the 1 3th of
July, William Underbill was buried.
T'he preceding documents the author
believes have never before been published ;
^e following was difcovered by Mr.
Halliwell :—

Pasch. 39 Eliz.

Inter Willielmum Shakespeare quer et Williel-

^Um Underbill, generosum deforc, dc uiio mesu-

^0* duobus borreis, et duobus gardinis, cum

P^^nentijs, in Stratford super Avon, undo placi-

"^^ convencionis sum, fuit inter eos, &c. scilicet

^^od predictus Williebmus Underbill recogri,

P^dicta tenementa eum pertinentijs esse jus

!^^ Willielmi Sbakespeare ut ilia que idem

|[J[ulielnius habet de douo predicti AYillielraus

1, et IB remisit et quietelam de se et

bered

New Pla^,

hered suis predicto Willielmo Shakespwe^ r^
hered suis in perpetuum ; et preterea idem y^i^.
lielmus Underhill concessit pro se et hered ii^|
quod ipsi waran? predicto Willielmo Shakeipetoilf ^
et hered suis predicta tenementa cum p0Kt|«t ^
nentijs in perpetuum. Et pro hac ke. idoal
WilUelmus Shakespeare dedit predicto Willioiaiil^^
XJnderhill sexaginta libras sterlingonun. - ^

4

In glancing over thefe dry legal pa|>ei||^
unearthed from the chamel-houie jof^i
hiftory, we are brought into contaid witlk*,^
the ads of men, whoie lives would biti
unknown had they not been preSavt^
from oblivion by the embalming lai^
Shakeipere's acquaintances, neighboi^^
perhaps friends^are brought before us I
fuch documents, and in the regifters
parifh churches. Thefe, and their
ftones, are almofl our only fources^
information concerning the men
women who were of note and
quence in and about Stratford, wha
have been ^uniliar with the Poet^

^Piid^Hfftm

95

'^s^^

Ijr the labour of a few

fkft us records of him which

ikiade the world grateful

hours to come.

^^be thankful^ however^ for poi^

that do furvive the de-*

»time; and accepting them^

lot re-people the paft» at leafl

eiktGh a gUmpfe here and there of

to the Poet both before

New Place life.

the Special Commiflions taken

i (Xnmt^ of Warwick, now pre-

t&e Record Office, is an in-

^ l^n die eflate of Ambrofe,

J^ Warwick, dated 32 Eliz.

*^ 'inhe document is very lengthy^

ftfl very great interefl. Some

attention was drawn to

but as yet no antiquary

having a publifher of

Irifk its publicadon.

The

96 New PlacCy

The following epitome of fuch porti
as ferve the objedt of the author will
read with interefl. Among the co
miffioners will be obferved the name
Charles Hales, to which the attention
the reader is efpecially directed, for real
which w^ill appear hereafter.

Speci«il Cuimnissions (Co. Warwick) ionp. E

Iiiqiiisitiu capta apud AVarwic*^ et Strati
su]X;i' Avon sexto die Octobris anno rcgni don
nostre Elizabetlie Dei Gracia Anglie Francie
Hibernie licgine lidei delcnsoris &c tricesimo
cundo uoraiii TLdeoue Grevile militc Tlioma Lo
niilite Joliaiine Puckering'e armigeris servient:
dic'to doniiue Regine ad legem, Thome Dabri
court armigero, et Carolo Hales armigero, vir
CoiTiissionis dicte doniine Kegine extra Scaccar
iiol)is et alijs dii'ccte ad inquirendum et supc
dendum de omnibus et singulis nianerijs tt
teneniL'ntis et hereditamentis in comitate pred
nuper Ambr- jsij comitis AVarwicensis Et de quil
dam articulis eidem Comissioni anncxis per sa
nientuni Joliis Turner generosi Kicbardi Wc
ward generosi Kadulplii Townesend gene
Joliannis Fulwood generosi Humfridi Brace
dulplii Lurdo AVillielmi AV^'yatt Jobannis Sa

Ric

Yicos Yocatus le Come slareto etXThoscbb

WlLLIELHUS IJkDEBHILL GINIBOSUS Tin*
BBBB QUAKDAH DOinTH YOCATAM THB Nb?FB PLi.^««» -^^

oux fbbtinbntijs fbb bbdditux fbb Amrbli.^l

Zlj^ 8BCTAM CURDB • •

[iVb/e— W"^ Underliill held also in "
streteimmn horreum &®'n ^

Manerium de Shotterye reddit castaiaasa?
a Shotterie

Johanna Hathbwat yid tenefc per copuijlir,,
nnnm mesBuagium et doas virgatas tezre efe <^^^^
midiam cam pertinentijs per redditom per
nam xzziij iiij^ finem et harriotam • xxxi{j^

Maaeriam de Bowington cam membria
tenentes per copiam carie

Thomas Shacebspbbb tenet per copiam
et heredibos suis nnnm croftam com
per redditam per annum ij' ad festa
eqaaliter finem^ heriotam^ sectam oaxie •

Idberi Tenentes

Thomas Shacebspbbb tenet libere nnnm
saagiam et onam virgatam terre cum
tijs per redditam per annum &o • •

Wood end
BiOABDUs Shaciqspbbb tenet pw

^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 99

supra unum cottagiura et dimidiara virgatam
t^rre et iinam acram prati cum pertinentijs per
redditum per annum ad festa predicta equaliter
^' X** finem et sectam curie vj' x*^

Mulsowe ende

Thomas Shackespere tenet per copiam ut
snpra unum mesuagium et unam virgatam terra
cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ad
festa predicta equaliter x* iiij'^ finem et harrio-
tam, cum accederit, et sectam curie . . x^ iiij**

Georgius Shackespere tenet per copiam ut
supra unum cottagium et unum croftum terre
cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ad
festa predicta equaliter ij* finem et sectam curie ij*

RiCAKDus Shackespere tenet per copiam ut
supra unum mesuagium et dimidiam virgatam
terre et duas parcellas prati cum pertinentijs
per redditum per annum ad festa predicta equ-
aliter xiiij* finem et harriotam cum accederit xiiij**

At the period of the above inquifition
being held, Shakefpere was twenty-eight
years of age. In a fmall town Uke Strat-
ford it feems that his family had in-
duftrioufly

*' Scattered his Maker's image o'er the land."

There

1^

k

There was a plentifid fiiqppfy b^
Shakeiperes and Hathaways in iemd ahe^
Stratford, not only at that date, bitt §^
many years previous. The regifters a^
records of Rowington and neighbomaig
pariihes have 3delded their evidences tb
this procreative truth; but the antb^
believes the following quotatknis frana li
Mufter Roll of the 28th Henry VI0/
(1537), have not previoufly been pni^r
liflied:-

Warwyfce.

The certyfioatlie of George Throkmertim k&HiK
^John Grevyle Folke Orevyle Edwatd
Esqmers and Antony Skynner gent Com;
of our Bouerayne lorde the kings coi
musters to be taken in the han^bednf ^^
lychwey and libertye of Pathloe in the
of Wanryke acoordinge to tiie kin^ges
co@i88ion to them dareoteddoe certyfle
lordships as well tiie names and si
abell men withine the hundred and lil
said as horses harnes bowes arows bil^
thinges defensabell and metefinr tlie
the diversitie therof whiche ar ift

^^Sj^H^B^^

^ii^lM<^.^^ loi

ij^lP^-liwawd «ad Mbor^ that yt tp

♦ * ♦

EnpliiiiMf

AUe men tbor

ThomnM Shakespere >Azoh[er]
* ♦J

Msqp.^- 'i>:

Bic : Shakespere

i^sL' ^

♦ ♦

Able men ther

^^■ESnulTr'.

m * 1
Vm@ Sakeqpere yAzoh[er]
♦ * * J

m-v

Bio: Shakespere

teL^- *

* ♦

illHPNPp*

Abell men there

John Hathewej l>Aich[eiQ

HfiH^y^r-

Abell men ther

Msttbev Hathew^ [>Aieh[er]

f been ohfcrved that William

fitther (A), the founder <^

hnSfyt was pofl^ed ttf aa

plcgr> a hamlet about three

miM. In this pboe aUb

1^ the-.

■bki- -^ — -^

-•■M

^r^.'^-)'^:y:a^'''-

102

Nmi^hm^

:.l.l:^:

the Hathaways flourifhed, for in ^'
office at Worcefter the author fowd
following entries : —

1641. Hathaway, Thomas

1667. Hathway, Simon .

1668. Hatheway, Joan •
1617. Hathway, John • •
1686. Hathway, Richard
1637. Hathway, Richard
1648. Hathaway, Andrew

Lozley. -^

Loxley. ^

Lozlqr. ']r^

Stratfofd« V'^

Stratford, ^j^

Now, although William UnderhUl i
the pofleilbr of New Place, had his
reiidence at Idlicote, it feems pr
that New Place was a favourite
houfe with him; and equally prot
that it was purchafed as a reiidence
him during his father's lifetime, as tlK|
was eifedled by his father, three
prior to his death. That deadi"
have occurred much more fudd^!^^
was ever anticipated; and after hb
was laid to reft in Eatington
William Underhill (B) may Irnvf^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 103

^^nwilling to retire entirely from a refi-

d^nce that had only been prepared for his

'"^ception three years previoufly. His

^c:ial rank and pofition are fufficiently

^riclicated by the preceding inquifition,

I ^^"Iierein he is ftyled "generofus;" and the

J ^^-ithor's reafon for believing that this

I *^ "VVilliam Underbill — generofus" (though

I ^^^^ually feated at Idlicote) always kept up*

I ^i^ town houfe in Stratford, and occa-

"c^nally flayed there, although never

""Asking it a fixed refidence, is drawn

fi^<::>m the faft, that while the hiflory of

^^<2 family is to be read in the regifters

^^ Eatington, and the regifters of Strat-

I fc^i^d are almoft filent, it does fo happen

tt>^at the author has found one baptifmal

ctvtry at Stratford, as follows : —

\ ^November 25, 1585. — Elizabeth, daugliter of

\

I ^. >lr. WilUam Undrell.

I \ The natural inference drawn from this

\ entry being, that during the winter

" ' months

104

Nem Plaitp

rm

months of 1585, die Undcflufii
removed from Idlicote to their
houie, at which place it chanced 1
of the children was bom. We
from theie various documents that
at Lojdey and in Stratford, W3
Underhill of New Place was
by Shakeiperes and Hathaways.
muft have been familiarly known to
and he to them ; for although there
a broad line of ibcial demarcatioli
tween the yeomen and aUe-1
" archers," and the " generodis "
of New Place, ftill we muft
in the cafe of John ShakeQ)ere and'
fon there would not be fuch a
becauie John Shakefpere had attains
poiition in the town fufficiend^
able to allow of a friendly intimacy .
ing between the Underbills and his i
of the Shakefpere family.

From his childhood in I567uttt2ii

81

1.

^jStOOfim

lOJ

know William Under-
?^ die owner of New Place.
,%» mnft have known him
diat Underbill muft hiave
f^^jpmate and friendly motive in
Place to Shakei^re, almoft
t:deatli4ied» is a condufion which
0bA drcumftances of the iak
||lbree iqpon us. But Shakeipere
intimately acquainted with
ibc, of the " College," and in
his iword to Thomas Combe.

will be anfwered with

^pqpihnation which the autluur

to the companion queftion»

^ can wdl bdieve many time-

of Shakeipere will be inclined

'^ou burden your book

^rate pedigrees which

IpTCQ before, and the ufe df

^jobviousnow?'

Let

J

,*7^A-e'^

106

New Phm^ m

Let fuch queftibns receive tl^
Becauie the writer believes, honefi^j
eamefUy, that much more fiid, amij
finitely more probability : cor
Shakefpere's life^ lies within our
than is commonly fuppofed. He
and pedigrees may feem to fbme
very dry ftudy; but it may &fi%s
afferted that, defpite the flippant jc
modern democratic writers at the
of the Herald's Tabard, and the mc
quaint aflbciations of the College;
Arms, that inftitution, the Booing
Vifitations, and the heraldic diiplays i
ancient church monuments, are I
daily more and more valuable as
butors to the hiftory of our
However humorous it may feera
the novus homo of Pie Corocti
Pudding Lane affuming a
which he has not the remoteft
and can (how no claim, neve

tntpcn^Awm. 107

don there is the indica-
^itar Bnglifhman's reverence and
IjSlr^ the ancient landmarks of famity
Juftory.

ddes it matter to any one if the

of the lateft Delegable Soap

6£ the Bifiircating^Baltic-

Iroftk^ drops in at one of thofe

fHoflbom (hops, which look like

menageries for the exhibition

griffins and uproarious gam-

liNw ; and there, for the fmall charge

rlM his '^ arms found ? '' What

^liie brindle cat fits and mews

note-paper, curls its tail upon

his envelopes, and Q)reads its

llQver the handles of his fpoons ?

or Clarenceux lofe their

^iMaufe the vaulting ambition

ihm% fheaking love for theie

^|M^ for it in the Queen^s

iir*powdcr and iiich like?

Not

r*';.t,«';;-^' '

io8

Nem fy^

<V 4 V i^ J!

Not a jot. Th^ kndiw wdtt ^
the honeft citizen would have feiinli
arms at Doctors' Commons if he
and that, pleaie God and his ovn
duffay, if he can found afamily, tixomi
or another the brindled cat may hxni^
turn in that diredion! Thoug^>
cynic may iinile and iheer at
cockney pretenfion, and though it
ludicrous afped, nev^thdeis it is not
ludicrous. There is fomething genu
Englifh at the foundation. There is
evidence of the fpirit of homage
antiquity; of reverence for cfvcn
humbleft aflbciation with anything
neded with the records of the ooi

As all forms, ecdefiaflical or civile j
their meaning and their moral^ib the j
of heraldry — the quainteft of all-
of the deepefl meaning and intereft»>
theprefent writer make boldtofii^
mofl intenfely interefling book;

n

..f^^

Stratford-upon-Avon. i o 9

may, perhaps, be yet written regarding
Shakefpere, by colledting together a
record of the perfons and the incidents
of thofe perlbns' lives with whom the
Poet muft of neceflity have been aflb-
ciated. Thefe pages cannot be devoted
to fuch an undertaking ; and, there-
fore, there will be no further attempt
made in them than to indicate the direc-
tion in which it feems well that fome one
flbould travel.

It is by no means impoflible to fur-
round Shakefpere with friends and ac-
quaintances, concerning whom the world
generally knows nothing up to the
prefent time.

What is the common eftimate of him
and of his affociates ? Vulgarity is ftamped
upon the traditional ftories regarding his
life and fociety. We are told he was
apprenticed to a butcher. He was a
deer-ftealer. He married a woman in a

hurry.

no

New Mwii

huny, for a reaibn about whldbi
faid the better. He lived unhapj
his wife, and as an evidence of fall
difference, left her his iecond«-beft
Lad of all, he died of a fever^
from a bout of drunkennefs.
Shakefpere!

Can any one (how that there
fyUable of truth in any of thefe
Do fuch low-bred vulgarity, imin<
and beaftiality, fuit with the mind
William Shakefpere ?

Has he not in his own words fii]
for us the vixen-like revenge which
nefs, and the worfl littlene& of all^
of goflips, takes upon any real
of mind and character : — " ITl give
" this plague for thy dowry ; be
^' chafle as ice, as pure as fhow»r
" (halt not efcape calunmy/'

Whence do all thefe ilories
Poet come ? Plain, vulgar-toi

• *^j^

.^^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 1 1

call them — goflip. When ventilated in

a fuperior atmofphere, and carried with

the beefs and muttons from the fcuUery

to the dinner-table, the word diflblves

into the politer phrafe — tradition. Be it

fo ! But what is Tradition ? Tradition

Js not to be believed ; but always to

t>e coniidered. Tradition is a perjured

'^itnefs, who never yet came into court

'Without a lie upon her tongue — for it is

^ lie to pervert, diftort, exaggerate, or

^irninifh aught of the truth ; and where,

^^tlier in the memory of man, or on

^I^e pages of hiftory, was there ever a

piece of " goffip," " town's talk," " what

^^erybody fays," " tradition," that did

^^t, on inveftigation, turn out to be

Surged with falfehood ?

The ftories current concerning Shake-

H^^re, which the lapfe of ages has confe-

l ^^ted with the undeferved title of tradi-

i *ion, might well aftonifh any ftranger to

^ Englifh

1 1 2 Neiv PlacCy

Englifli habits ; but they are not i
the fmalleft degree aftonifliing, whe
we remember that it is one of tl:
manners and cuftoms of the Englil
to try to knock a man over, the mc
ment he lifts his head above the her
of his fellow-men. If by abufe an
flander we can blight his fpirit, dull h
brain, and break his heart, we give Go
thanks for having accompliflied a worth]
Chriftian, and charitable end. But if h
flands the pelting, and wont be put dowi
there is a time coming when he can t
cuffed and cudgelled to any extent. Fc
your genuine lover of flander— the van
pire of private life — the greateft treat c
earth is the " poft-mortem '' of a man
character, whom he has followed wil
envy, hatred, and malice through li£
There are Cannibals, even in Englaa
who want a gofpel preaching to them 6
more than their heathen brethren; fo

whil(

tht

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 1 3

while the latter whoop and dance around
the dead, and then eat the perifhing flefh,
the former exultingly leap upon, and
until they are fick with furfeit, devour the
^ore than body — the reputation, the life
^ death, of thofe who lie defencelefs in
grave.
There is no need to be furprifed that
^^en mighty Shakefpere's memory has
"Cen handed down to us blackened and
defamed by goflip. In inverfe ratio,
^e higher a man attains, the lower and
t^^fer he is likely to be reprefented. An
Unerring gauge whereby to meafure the
^^ue of character and genius againft
Soffip^ in the cafe of Shakeipere, is here
fiipplied.

The ftory — which will hereafter be re-
ferred to — regarding the caufes which led
^^ Shakefpere's death, is generally familiar,
^d has, as a matter of courfe, been*^ com-
monly reported in Stratford. In order to

fhow

114 New Place J

fhow how goflip — otherwife tradition —
improves as ihe pafles from mouth to
mouth, the author lately encountered
the ftatement, gravely made to him by
a clergyman at Luddington, who had
been afTured of its truth, that ^^ Shake-
" fpere died drunk." That affertion will
read to every one as wicked and pre-
pofterous as it founded in the ears of
the writer. But why wicked and pre-
pofterous ? It is the natural refult, and
inevitable development of the ftory told
in the Rev. Mr. Ward's Diary, which
need not be further difcufled in this
place. This piece of goflip of 1862,
the author believes precifely to the fame
extent that he does any and all of the
before-mentioned fl:ories. They all reft
upon one bafis, and that bafis is a rotten
one.

A very clever, and, in its way, a very
convincing pamphlet, was publifhed a

fliort

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 1 5

(hort time back, by Charles Holte Brace-
bridge, Efq., entitled " Shakefpeare no
" Deerftealer," the gift of which is, that
Shakefpere did not kill the deer in
Charlecote at all, but in Fulbroke Park ;
that in fo doing he committed no offence
againft the law, or morals, but that he
ofFended Sir Thomas Lucy thereby. Mr.
Bracebridge quotes the ftatement of the
late Mr. Lucy to Sir Walter Scott, that
** the park from which Shakefpere ftole
** the buck was not that which furrounds
" Charlecote."

Mr. Bracebridge's pamphlet is well
worth reading, and he has done good
fervice by it to the memory of the Poet.

Now as to the value of tradition.
Though tradition invariably fpeaks falfely,
as in one inftance Mr. Bracebridge has
fhown, neverthelefs, though a wretched
bad witnefs in court to give evidence, fhe
ferves as a very ufeful fign-poft upon

the

1 1 6 Neiv PlacCy

the highways of time. She commonly
(not always) points to fomething that
deferves inquiring into, and indicates
the direction in which we fhall find
it worth our while to travel. So with
regard to the traditions about Shake-
fpere : the author believes they are a
mixture of abfurdity and of falfehood ;
but at the fame time, while rejecting
them as at all truflworthy, they feem to
him to ferve a ufeful purpofe in exciting
inquiry, and making us feek for the
truth that underlies them. As evil is
commonly good perverted, fo falfehood
is often the wicked or idle mifreprefenta-
tion of fomething true at bottom ; and as
good as it is true.

Let any one of the fo-called traditions
concerning Shakefpere be brought into
court, and fearchingly examined, and it
will be committed for perjury.

But let us take the rambling old ter-

centenarian

I

1 Stratford'Upon-Avon. 117

p centenarian crone at her real value; go
' and fit with her in her timber and plafter
j cottage at Stratford, and liften to her as
(he told her ftory to Betterton, or to
Ward, or in her later years to Malone or
Stevens, and we ifhall thank her, not for
what fhe teaches us, but for fending us
ofF in the right direction in purfuit of

I fbmething we have yet to learn.

|r There is Mr. John Shakefpere, in

Henley Street — he is a glover, or a
butcher, or a " yeoman," or wool-dealer !
— what is he ? Can no one fum up all
the fuppofed trades or bufineffes, and fay
in a word, that they moft probably mean
he was a woolftapler ? Make him of
any one of the above trades actually and
fblely, and we cannot reconcile the other
flatements.

But like the variorum readings of
the fame names and the fame employ-
ments in Shakefpere's days, if we

adopt

ii8

Nem Place,

1

adopt the conclufion that he i
Merchant of the Staple, we fiiall
be able to underftand his being
both butcher and glover. Confiderit^|
what a ftaple trade gloving was in
Shakefpere^s time, in his own
if he were connedled with the
in London, he would of neceffity
gloves. The pofleflbr of lan4, and
owner of cattle, it is the height of
bability that he may have ilaughtered i
(heep in his own farm-yard, in order
have the fkins properly preferved. But
he might eafily be called, and £>
his fon William ; and alio be repr
as apprenticed to a butcher, when he :
in reality apprenticed to his father.

So, again, the ftory about SI
killing an animal, or helping to kitt j
may be true in origin, but
reprefentation of it be as untrue^
one of our princes or peers were

fdk^m-Awm. 119

becanfe he happened
{Mte^twhen a flag's throat was

6^ again, there is the deer ftory.
bridge may be right as £ir as
; and yet, while tradition points
hOi that did occur, he might
though wanting evidence, and
||||^> truth, have gone much further.
Oot Shakefpere have been out, not
lor import, but as a matter of buii-
[igfat not his father have regu-^
and paid for deer out of
Park? Might not the quarrd
:>TEiomas Lucy have arifeQ upon
and an imperious, hot^
liOQntiy fquire have attempted to
m^ Shakefpere, thereby making
s, and henceforward be-
in his folly ?
ic^ds Shakefpere's removd
V May not that have hap«

pened

pened for bufinefs motives ? md tm^llifi
not^ during his whole London cu0i^:
have benefited by a profitable trade^ #lli| ^
gave him the pofition of a gentkaui|| ^
and connedted him with gentleOMei^j
and alio enabled him to realilb/^^ll;
independence upon which he retinei^
It muft never be forgotten that .|b|[
father was in difficulties about the tx||||^
when the Poet removed to the metfO^
polls ; and from that moment we ncfiil
again hear of^ or trace any doiileftll^
anxieties in the houfe of John Shtbyi
fpere. The inference feems conclufivi^:

Look at Shakefpere, in his hoi
at Stratford: is he not continual^
gaged in commercial tranfa£tionsr--]
and felling com^ buying land,&rms,
Shakefpere was a bufy man — an
thrifty, accumulative man.
evidently anxious to make tm
to found a family. His will, aiu|

k

Wliy fliould we delight in
iuch miferable fudge ? Why ihould -ill^.
writer after another^ and one gena:«tii|||: ?
after another, pais on, from book to bolt^^^
and from mouth to mouth, a M:i^^
ftories that would be (divefted of 1^'^
grand-founding epithet ''tradition^** aaH
branded with their proper defij
— ^pot-houfe goffip) rejedled as c«^^
fuited to the ideas of tap-room topeiS^,
The term is ufed advifedly. There i$#i^
faint, oppreflive odour of that rcgi<mf^ \
faturated with the ftench of fble hte^/
and the deipoiling of men's reputatii
about almoft all the "traditions*'
Shakefpere. Shakefpere with merry
panions, over the " cheerful bowy
perpetually being prefented to our
by tradition. Shakefpere, and "the
of drinking (at Bidford) the largeft
tity of liquor without being into
Shakefpere dead-drunk, and fleep*

<i

m^.v>^'

pi^ufm^Aixm. 123

under the umbrageous
6f a crab-tree ! " ShakeQ>ere
doggrd verfes at the expenie of
|irCicolar and perfbnal friend^ at a
laid to have been known by the
«f "^tfaeBearr Shakefpere drinking
at a merry-meeting, and dying
of a fever I

pamlits of our literature! bio-
<^ the greateft man of all your
Isiyvers of the Saxon tongue ! is it
boozing tales as thefe that ye
High Prieft of your profef^
l^r Muft the incenfe that you offer
llb^i^ABdae reek with the coarie odour
loSage politician's and wifeacre's
and ilill fouler breath?
Netbuhr of Englifh record btf
[IH^g enough and manly enough
the ilream of hiftory, by
>liad contemptuous ridicule of
garbage^ polluting eveiy-*
thing

I

thing with its poifbnous ^^traditkmf'*^.^»|
are taught to diftruft an aut30grlif^^j||^^
Shakeipere's, and cautioned not to bciii^fi^
a fci^ of writing to be true, unleft dMfiii^
internal corroborative evidence to eftii^M^^^
its authority ! Better, furdy, to caiilllgd
the world againfl believing a fcrap.^l^

vulgar goflip, unleis there is fbme i
and corroborative evidence to eftabliib:^'
authenticity. No one is a jot the WQifil
or better whether a line of wridng * "
genuine or forged ; but a whole
is made worfe, — every man who
the Saxon tongue is worie, becauie
confidence and re(pe<ft are (haken, i£
difcover that the teacher of the
nobleft thoughts— the Poet veho fills j
heart with admiration for all that is
and virtuous and honourable in hi
nature, began life as a thief, fpent ij^
vagabond, and ended it as a
Softer-^ken words might be

~^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 125

the did:ionaiy ; but thefe are the real and
fimple terms by which, in plain, un-
varniflied fpeech, Shakefpere deferves to
be defcribed, if the felf-condemning
" traditions " in common currency re-
garding him are to be reproduced and
re-believed.

It may be faid, that the author has met
tradition by nothing better than fuggel-
tion and that any one can draw pid:ures
from imagination. But this would hardly
be juft. Which fort of evidence is more
agreeable and acceptable, — that which is
probably true becaufe it refts upon con-
cluiions derived from known fadls ; or
that which is probably untrue, becaufe it
refts upon no other foundation than the
loofe and fhifting ftories of goflips ?

Goflip reprefents Shakefpere as a booz-
ing and beer-drinking fellow. Fadls do
not prove that he was not; but fad:s
provide us with evidences of his energy,

labour,

labour^ and thrift, leading us to
from thofe fa£fcs which convince m
could not poflibly have been fo. Ex mil
dtybe omnes I Goflip fa3rs he v^ras a dje»t}
flealer in Charlecote Park: fa£fcs now pioM^
that flatement to be pofitively falie, ^31^,
that if he killed a deer at Fulbrokc, Sil^
Thomas Lucy had no power to prev€fli|'
him. GofSp fays he ran away to av<
the knight's diipleafure ; fads prove tM|
his father was a man in confiderable
pute, connedled with the Mercer's
but that he got into difficulties ; and
that precife period we find young SI
Ipere went to London. Fafts truly
not prove, but they lead us to a
able conclufion bafed upon thenv
Shakefpere went to London for good
honefl purpofes ; and that he went
man of bufinefs, not as a h(
vagrant is the more probable,
fadts fhow that his father retained

StratJord-upon-Avon. 127

fion of his refidence, and we hear no more
of his troubles ; while in a brief period of
time his fon returned to Stratford, able to
eftabliOi himfelf in the " Great Houfe ''
there.

Let us judge of Shakefpere by what we
really know of him, however fmall and cir-
cumfcribed the amount of our information
may be. Rejecting with fcorn the old
wives' fables, which other old wives feem
to have delighted in perpetuating, it is a
fafer and more honourable path to purfue,
if we fet out upon a journey in fearch of
fa(5ls, and, like Pilgrim, eafe our jfhoulders
of that bundle of fictions which have
burdened us. Let tradition be a finger-
poft, and nothing more ! If the enthu-
fiaftic lovers of the Poet would content
themfelves with healthy exercife, they
might perhaps find that there are ftill
many fa(5ls waiting to be dug out of
ancient records that have been brufhed

paft

£ab3m

paft by us ten thouiand times^ idll
never deteded. The filver m'
Potofi were difcovered by the
afide of a bramble ; and yet their t
had laid through the long centuries^^
to the handling of men. So it may]
that there are treafures of hiftcnj ^
have been very dofe to ibme amoi^f
which an accident fbme day may
Even though it be not fo, the
well worth diligent fearch.

It feems extraordinary that maEjft^
the raptim^us admirers of the geniiii;^
the Poet perpetuate^ as if they
true^ fo many vulgar danders and
regarding the man. If they were
we might begin to fufpe<% there is
thing after all in that ftrange theoiy;:
Slujcefpere's plays were never
Shakeipere, but by Francis Bacqa^
caufe it would be impoffible to
the man that we fhould pidure

i

.vXl

s.

i

130

Ne^^Pl$cip

Poet's biographers had doiie» 4kiid
ffaHl do, the fame.

Can no other pi£hire of him bedm^
Let us make the attempt

It; will be admitted that Si
was a precocious and ambitious
Let the motive for his early marriage 1
been what it may, there was precoc^|
the flep. But if we difcard the diihc
ing fuggeftions that have been made
garding it, and confider it as the aA
young man who had a fblenm and <
appreciation of the value and purpolb^
life, we fhall find that fuch a view c£i
traniadtion harmonifes with the wfaols^^
Shakefpere's conduct. Let it be £akSei
matters not— that this is taking ilij
novel view of his condu<%: k U
better, when we are attributing
to a perfon, to try and find good
than bad ones? Shakeipere, it |l|
needs no apologift, leaft of all

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 131

vocacy of fo feeble a pen as that which

traces thefe Unes ; but to furnifli motives

for a man*s adts is a paftime at which all

can play an even game ; and therefore the

fancy of one man is juft as good as that

of another. The Poet's charafter is read

from a totally different point of view in

thefe pages to that taken by De Quincey

and by many others.* Let it be pardoned,

if in love and admiration the author feems

prefumptuous when he fays, that he con-

fiders, in the glorification of the poet,

Shakefpere's character has wanted ftaunch

and faithful champions, — men

"To think no ilander; no, nor liften to it."

Let the fuggeftion above made be enter-
tained for a moment, and in what a totally
different light do the two momentous ac-
tions of the Poet's life prefent themfelves !
— his early marriage, and his early fetting

out

Appendix I.

•^^•A

out for London to fight
and conquer indepoidence I

Precocity and annibition areiicreiiiQsnl^
bined Who shall Uame them ?
man commenced life as a good maa
begin it: there was no ^'ibwingof.
oats; *' no libertinifin; no
the ftrength of youth amidil tb:
a metropolis. Let Shakeipere's
fadts of his life — be weighed agatnfi:
words of goffips who never knew
and the author contends thofefiids
to turn the fcale in his favour*

His firil ilep on the threihold ^i
hood argues the fenie of refpon^bi
the ambition for refpedtability. It
the man; and it came out and
itfelf at the earliefl poffibk moi

I

* When it was ftated, at p. 31, thtt
feals to Shakefpere's marriage b(Mid» CUB^A
impreiiioD '' R.H.,** it would have been,
to fay there " were,** hecaufe the feab
vaniihed^ and there is fcarcelj a trace df j

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 3 3

: is another charafteriftic — the
of arms to Shakefpere's father.

It

Nearly fourteen years have elapfed fince
laft heard anything of that bond, and it was
dent that, being in Worcefttr lately, he took
inity to give it a frelh examination. On
3 compared the text of Mr. Halliwell and
t with the original, and found that the copy
p. 29, 30) is perfedly corred, while that of
It (** Biography," p. 275) contains thefe

bn of any pcontra6l or affinitie, or by any
,, inftead of " by reafon of any pconira6t,
ty affinitie," &c.

(Awfully folemnize mriony," inftead of "may
emnize mriony together."
1 that cafe provided," inftead of " lawes in
' provided."

ard to Luddington, as the probable place of
s marriage, it may be well to put it on record
ftill living an old gentleman, named Pidering,
near Alcelter, who, when a youth, refided at
. This perfon dillin<^tly remembers having
)fitively alferted by the inhabitants of the
Shakefpere was married in their chapel j
remembers the books and rcgifters of the
ig burnt in a fire which occurred at his
e chapelwarden's houfe, ai the cnynmence-
prefent century, {Query. Did Malone ever
books?) Mr. Baldwin, who now occupies the
ddington Green, preferves the remains of a
which belonged to the chapel, as alfo the
Bible which belonged to the reading-deik,
y of the porch, which was dug up a few
n the garden which now covers the ruins.

*34

Ne^Piaefy

It is univeiMy admitted tfatt ^^
Shakefpere's a<%; and that it was he I
prompted John Shakeipere's
to Herald's College.

It will be obferved upon the Si
Pedigree^ that the condition of his
tors and the grants of lands^ as
in the draft of the pedigree in H
College^ have been reproduced as
attributing them to the favour of
VIL, to whom John Shake^re's
grandfather did faithful and approved
vice. William Dethick, Garter Prii
King-at-Arms^ has been chained
granting arms improperly; and Mr*
well particularly dwells upon the
and interlining of the original
1596. It feems to the author
fcoring and correftion was moil
and that in all probability it
the hA of the evidence being taki^'
from the lips of William S]

^

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 135

Dethick is not to be charged with the
falfehood or mifreprefentation, if any,
appearing in the two drafts of arms, dated
1596 and 1 599. In both thefe the faithful
fervices of the Shakefperes to King Henry
VII. is folemnly aflerted ; and it is hard to
believe that the aflertion is untrue, when
it agrees fo well with the probable fettle-
ment of the Shakefperes in Warwick-
fhire, and was made,almoft beyond doubt,
by the Poet perfonally, to Dethick, fince
the draft bears date when Shakefpere was
buiy in London, and the year before he
pur chafed New Place — a fignificant fadt!

Therefore, on the Pedigree in this book,
that ftatement is accepted and believed,
becaufe the author believes the draft was
drawn under information provided by
William Shakefpere himfelf ; and he be-
lieves like wife that the man, with the
chivalric feelings of a gentleman, would
have fcorned to tell a lie.

It

It has been fuggefted diat
it will be ieen, the Ardens &nmi
Henry VIL, Shakefpere was coi
his maternal with his paternal
So that we may take our choice
whether, in the firft cafe, he ^I^v0^l
liar; or, in the fecond, a fboL P]
alternatives for thofe who relifh
But it is to be hoped thene are
wanting believers in the candour
truthfiilneis of the Poet; who^
Mr. C. Knight, in his "Bi
accept with credit the ftatement
in both the drafts, for which we
hold Shakefpere himfelf re^nfible,
fidently believing that it was iuj
as information by him in the
of the firfl draft of 1596, and
by Garter King in 1599.

But what was the motive for
ipere inftigating his father to obttiOfi^
grant ? It can hardly fail to be

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 3 7

to any mind that is not tortuous. The
author believes that the grant was fought
with the fame motive that the early mar-
riage was contradied, — that New Place
was purchafed, — and that Shakefpere's will,
finally, was made. It feems to him that
in all thefe things, and in his wonderful
mental adiivity and pofitive labour, there
was the one noble, worthy, ambitious
motive throughout : Shakefpere wiflied
to found a family. He loved from his
early days the honoured refpediability of
an Englifh gentleman. He longed and
defired that his family fliould achieve a
place among the gentry of Warwick-
(hire. The ambition that we have iz^w
in the prefent century, at Abbotsford, was
precifely what was feen at New Place in
1597. Perhaps there is a more extended
parallel between Scott and Shakefpere
than this. Was there not the fame
hiftoric feeling in both thefe men ?

The

The love for antiquity/£>r
heraldry, for chivalric ftoiy and
is confpicuous in each of them I
fere's plays are hiftoric chronicles ; Ibjft
Scott's novels. They prefent in a fK^ijp
form, to the entrancement of the
moving fped:acle of events of which
would otherwife be profoundly i]
It requires a peculiar fympathy of
to deal with fuch fubjeds, — and
thorough fympathy was inbred in
charaders of Shakefpere and Scott

No carclefe reader of S
works can poflibly miis obio^ring
antiquary's tafte that pervades
Let this be carried in memory^ andk
pride of anceftry, in the draft
grant of arms, will be n
his natural chara£teriflic« and
Dethick's invention.

It will be obferved that the^
treats with abfolute difbelief

Stratford'Upori'Avo?!. 1 3 9

guft the " traditions" current concerning
the Poet ; and he is impatient of them,
becaufe he folemnly beUeves them to
be injurious to the credit which the
Man, as diftinft from the Poet, de-
ferves to enjoy among his countrymen.
He beHeves that the known and authen-
ticated fadts of Shakefpere's Hfe, taken by
themfelves, prefent to us a Charadter to be
refpedted and loved, juft as much as his
works do a Poet to be admired. Of thofe
leading events of Shakefpere's life which
have been fummarifed above, he conceives
that, when any mind difengages itfelf from
the mire of tradition, they can only be
regarded in one light, — to his honour and
fair fame.

This is a mighty contraft and contra-
didtion to the currently-received ftories
about ftealing deer, marrying in fhame,
and running away to London ! But thofe
are ftories without confirmation or evi-
dence.

I*.

l.

dence, and the authorholdi ihtfmi
dvdy irreconcilable with the prot^
authentic hOs of Shakefpere's
uniformly exhibit him as an indtiftnbifll
high-minded^ afpiring citizen, ^iiid 4
man ambitious of taking rank nitk dife
families of Englifh gentry.

We are informed by Rowe» wiidr^iii
the flory on the authority of Sir W2M||
Davenanty that Lord Southampton, OQ^M
his great friendfhip for ShakeQ>en^ pi^
fented him with £1000, to enaUefaiS^it^
make a purchafe for which he had a
This gift is fuppoied to have been
fome time fubfequent to the j^car i
when *• Venus and Adonis 'V was
and dedicated to his lordfhip !

We float aloft into a higher and :
atmofphere when we piiShirc our
ipere winning and holding iiich ail
cial fnend,'* — being focialty
with fuch a man as SouthampttMi

*:M

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 4 1

befriended by William and Philip Herbert,
Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery.

Something too much has been written
about the inferior polition of the Poet ;
and that pofition has been kept down by
the everlafting low-lived ftories with
which his name has been begrimed.

Shakeipere's genius needs no eulogies.
It were to paint the lily to laud that. But
Shake fpere — the man, the citizen, the high-
minded poliftied gentleman, ambitious of
pofition and afferting his title to aflbciate
with gentlemen — this is a perfon of whom
we have heard too little. From all that
his biographers have commonly put be-
fore us, we might naturally conclude that
he was a fort of dramatic penny-a-liner,
fcribbling by day from neceflity — at the
point of the literary bayonet — the pen —
a certain amount of "copy," the value of
which was unknown to himfelf, and de-
lighting at night in the fottifh fociety of

taverns.

\'r{

I**

142

Ne^'^iiii^

taverns. It may be that on fSb^
this pidture of him is expoied in a
and more glaring light than^e
are accuflomed to fee it in* The
aflerts that it is the true light ; and
lieves that the focial and moral ^
of the manias painted by ^^tradition** (I
wives' goflip), is as grofs andpr
he alio believes every one of tfac^
(Chandos or otherwife), which are
on the public as likenefles of the phj
man^ are like fign-painters'
having far lefs relation to the original
the ** Saracen's Head" had to Sir
deCoverley, Is there not more
in contemplatingShakefpere as the
friend of Southampton, than as rej
him as the "hale-fellow, well-met^
panion of the fwilling chaw-
"Piping Pebworth; Dancing
&c. &c. ?

Talk of reverence for this

"^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 43

man's works ! — it feems there is plenty
of lack of reverence for the man himfelf.

Let us afk ourfelves, when we prate
about our love for the " Immortal Bard,"
where we find anything to juftify our
bafe-born traditional rubbifh about that
Immortal Man ? Shakefpere could not
have acquired the independence he did,
had he not been a fober, cleanly-living,
thrifty man.

Shakefpere could not have infligated his
father to acquire that coat-of-arms, had
he not been an ambitious man : ambitious
in the purefl and befl fenfe of that word
— ambitious to raife himfelf in focial poii-
tion and refped:.

Shakefpere would not have completed
the purchafe of fuch a property as New
Place, and have made it his permanent
refidence, unlefs he had been what we
now call commercially " a thoroughly
refpeiftable man," anxious to take his

place

144

Nef»

place amoQgft gentkmen^ Imtl^^
efteemed ast ^^ generafiis '* in lUst^
county. I

Every known foB of his Hfe
fupport theie affertions. Let Jn^fi
weighed in the fcale with fable, asKJij
meafure of the man will gi^e
refult a charadter to refpe^ as
a genius to admire.

Something has been faid in allnfogtl
Heraldry. There is one fource of ii
information regarding ShakeQ)ere
has never as yet been thoroughly c
Authors and biographers have
through the fieve of criticifin ^tacf\
of diredt evidence regarding him»
oiy and available. Cloie RoU^
InquifitionSy Regifters, have
their filent teftimonies. But Fi
Sales^Birthsy Deaths^ and Ms
they give us dired and pofitive^
ledge» do not give that ind

^

•«s

Stratford-upon-Avon, 1 45

e gathered from contemporary
A Pedigree, quaint and for-
nay look, when well read and
ay yet be found to guide the
fearch in fome direftion
indired:, and leading perchance
;t diredt, evidence regarding the

\ lines are being penned, there
the writer twelve hundred
itten foolfcap flieets of War-
pedigrees and family hijftories,
)y the late Rev. Thomas Warde,
V'efton-under-Wetherley and of
Warwickshire. They are a part
)ur of a long life of an enthuii-
iary's refearch. They are inter-
th pen-and-ink fketches of an-
wickfliire timber-houfes, many
are now deftroyed; and their
:rowded with the moil intereft-
and local records, fuch as have

not

146

'JNhv'^INte^

not been coUeded
fince Sir W. Dugdale publUhed 1
book» deipite its numerous eifoi
the author firft peru&d du
intention was to quote fixm k:
but he has relinquiflicd diat ide
becaufe to do fo properly wooU^I
involved the publication of a
magnitude ; and partly becaufe M^
lb it would have been robbing ^tmi
idelf of riches, which, in die
opinion, would have been like
tomb of the dead of its trealiiie;
and undefiled the Rev. Mr. Wa
(hall remain, until fuch time as
cious and Angularly interefting
be given entire to the public;
portion of the public whidi t
in fuch matters will grieve to i
documents now confided to diev
charge do not form more dba&i fi
of the number which once

k

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 47

i in a fire in London fome years ago.
he pages of the fragment of twelve
d fheets ftill preferved, many items
•mation contained in this volume
*en gathered ; and a ftore of detail
ng the Lucys, Underhills, Combes,
:ons, Shirleys, Cloptons, Carews,
2s,Throckmortons, and others who

Shakefpere*s time, has proved to
hor the value of the opinion he
xprefles, as to the wide field of
evidence ftill to be explored,
ed to convey moft interefting in-
on, that may lead to a far more
knowledge of Shakefpere himfelf
e prefent age poflefles.
names juft given (and many others

Warwickshire gentry might be
when we ftudy them by the help
I^oUege of Arms, are found linked
r by intermarriages, bringing be-
curious and interefting fadts elfe-

where

148

New

where unattainable; and
pafl by fuch aid, we are enabled iQ/
round Shakefpere with the form»
figures of men and women who^ia^
nature of things, muft have known
well, and been known by him«
names of Sir Thomas Lucy,
Combe, Sir Thomas Throckmortcm^^
Fulke Greville pais before us as
hers for the county of Warwidu:
turning to the Clopton Pedigree,
John Combe married to Rofc
of Clopton.^ On the tomb of jf |
Combe, in Stratford, we find the
Combe quartered with Underbill, \
hiftory of the two families puts j
the intermarriages. In the fiune
learn of the alliance between the
ter of Sir Stephen Hales, the
porary of Shakeipere, and Edwanlj

* Appendix J.

k.

Stratford-upo?i'Avon. 1 49

Again, the grandfon of Thomas Underhill
Carried the daughter of Sir William Lucy.
And again, Jocofa, or Joyce Clopton
(^hree years younger than Shakefpere,
j ^orn 1568), married George Carew,
' ^erwards Earl of Totnefs. Thefe were
' People aflbciated with Stratford, with
j "^any of whom Shakefpere muft have
l^^en familiar. The Combes, the Under-
bills, the Cloptons, the Carews, it may
De afferted without any hefitation, were
his friends. What does the world know
of thefe people? It has heard John
Combe libelled as a ufurer; and been told
^hat he was Shakefpere's friend until the
Poet lampooned him. It has learned
that the Earl of Totnefs was a brave
foldier. And this is all. The evidence
of John Combe's regard for Shakefpere
has paled before a doggrel verfe. The
evidence of Shakefpere's attachment to

the Combes has been made nothing of.

The

150 New PlacCy

The fad: that Lord Totnefs, living at
Clopton Houfe, was a man of letters and
an author, has efcaped notice beyond the
record of the fad itfelf. And the ftory
that Lord Southampton prefented Shake-
fpere with £1000 to complete a purchafe
on which he had fet his heart, has never,
it is beUeved, been pointed at the acquire-
ment of New Place.

When people have been fufficiently
naufeated with the fentimental rubbilh
with which the prefs has teemed about
the " Immortal Bard," and when the
tap-room talk, yclept tradition, has been
poured out into the gutter with its kin-
dred dregs, the healthy and honeft re-
fearches of the good and true fearchers of
this age after fad, will lead to the gather-
ing of new materials for writing the hif-
tory of Shakefpere. In fo doing it will
be well to furround him with the fecial
fadts of Stratford at the time when he lived,

having

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 5 1

having ftripped him of the fables of half a
century after he died. It is furely more pro-
fitable to know the perfons among whom
he dwelt, than to liften to the loofe ftate-
ments of people that he never faw. In-
quiries about his contemporaries may bring
us to difcover fomething about hm ; but
if they never teach us anything pofitive as
to his hiftory, there is fome fatisfaftion in
contemplating the men and women who
had the privilege of his acquaintance.

Let us glance at one or two of the
Stratford worthies of the Shakefperian
age.

There were three houfes which we of
the prefent generation would give much
to have refcued from deftrudlion : New
Place, the Poet's home ; the College of
Stratford, the home of his friend John a
Combe ; Clopton Houfe, the home of the
Cloptons and Carews. Of thefe three,
two have utterly perifhed : the third,

Clopton

152

Ne^

Clopton Houfe^ exiib as tt^^il^
ftruftcd by Sir Edward Walker pj^l
time of Charles IL Happily due
of the original houfe^ built lA ^^^
of Henry VIL^ has been ipared. It
at the back of the prefent manfioAiVl
was a porch-way entrance, acrcift:
ancient moat« One hundred and
years have pafled away fince a Sir
Clopton (H), and withal a HeralddPi
College of Arms, deftroyed the he
which Shakeipere died. Hie
generation, therefore, has been robbcii|
nothing which it has contempbued
poflefled. Not fo with the
That venerable ftrudture, ere£):ed
reign of Edward HI. by
Stratford, Bi(hop of London, and;
ing the yard of Stratford Chi
ihamefully deftroyed within the
of living men. This monaftic
ment had been ^^ embellifhed %

m'mu

fd-^upm^Avon. 153

the churchy with Georgian
^1 bofr at the back it fUll retained
df its mediaeval architectural
Unfortunately, in the year
it wad ibid to one Edmund
a man who had made money
Jlttdiefter, and curfed Stratfbrd by
lll«re« The MS. records in the
^t tnifty allude to the College as

1797, the furniture of this
the College, was diipofed of
I, together with a coUedtion
Many of them were very
ancient, and valuable; and
te>*cry interefting family portraits,
wcsre, unfortunately for the
ibid and diiperfed. Whole
indf Queen Elizabeth, Charles II.
'Qneen, Louis XIIL and his
IChadbi 11. and his Queen,
y^^ l^«re now in the Town

••Hall

m^

'54

Nlm^i

'' Hall at Lichfidd, hamg^eeil^

''for a trifle each, for MnN^gil^

'' mufeum in that town» and finoe ^^;

''being difcontinucd, tfaefe jMift at » - ^ ii ;

^^fnding a purchaJer/'-'hzvt beta i|^

"hung up in the Town HdL

" length paintings of George^ Piioar^^

" Denmark, George L, and II. attbJll^ |

" corated this antique manfidn. Ali^

"piece, bearing the date 1641. A: ^

"length portrait of Juxon, Bi(hi%^|

" London, who attended the

" King Charles L to the ft^SkkL

" painting very likely was an

"the pious Bifhop, at the dma ji|i^

" ufurpation of Cromwell, retired ^J

" houfe at Litde Compton^ in

" terfhire, which is not far (mok

" ford. A very beautiful

"portrait of Lady Radnor^ imI

" rable family portraits / and

" numerous to mention.

"it

^"Si

Stratford-upon-Avon. 155 1

" This venerable manfion, — which had
"exifted through a lapfe of 446 years,
" and fince the fuppreflion of the religious
" houfes in the reign of Henry VIII.
" had been the reiidence of feveral very
" honourable families, — was now doomed
" to fall, and its ancient walls to be
" pulled down to the ground, though the
" whole of the manlion was in perfed:
" repair, and fome parts of it fitted up in
" the modern ftyle by its purchafer, who
" very unfortunately had purchafed it.
" Being an entire ftranger to the town of
" Stratford, having lately purchafed the
" houfe ftanding near the large gates of
" the entrance to the church, where he
" refided, and having more money than
" any regard for venerable antiquity, or
" any refped: for antiquarian lore, or the
** ancient pofleflbrs of this noble manfion,
** he, tradefman-like, — for he was a Man-
** chefter tradefman, — not liking that the

" ground

156 New P/acCy

" ground facing his own houfe fhould be
" encumbered with fuch an old anti-
" quated building, determined to have the
" whole pulled down, like Mr. Gaftrell,
'^ who deftroyed the famous mulberry-
" tree. By the taking down of this an-
" cient pile the town of Stratford had to
" lament the deprivation of one of the
*' chief and greateft ornaments. But Mr.
'' Batterfbee, regardlefs of public opinion,
*' and defirous of the land on which it
*' ftood, to make ufe of part for a kitchen-
" garden and the reft for pafture for his
*' cattle, deftroyed the whole of the old
'' College in 1800. Sic tranfit, &c''

The above quotation has been made in
full, that the reader may have a fpecimen
of the ruthlefs manner in which, litde
more than half a century ago, the moil
interefting family reliques were difperfed,
and the houfe in which Shakefpere had
fpent many an hour with the Combes and

the

Stratford-upon-Avofi. 1 5 7

the Cloptons was deftroyed ! Can it be
that when old fwords, and halberds,
and rufting antiquities were turned out
with the pots and kettles, Shakefpere*s
fword went along with them ? // is
quite pojfible.

Pafs we on now to Clopton Houfe,
which, happily, remains. As before
ftated, one remnant of the antique
Shakeiperian edifice ftill ftands : the re-
mainder of the manfion being Carolean.
Neftling under the weftern fweep of Wel-
combe Hills, the flopes rich with verdure,
dotted with copfes, and fhadowed with
ancient trees, among which the deer feed,
ftands Clopton Houfe, As we look upon
that folitary remnant of the Tudor Houfe,
we feel a thrill of pleafure in the con-
vid:ion that under its portal Shakefpere
and his friends muft have pafled fcores of
times. The moat ran diredly in front of
it, and was a few years back difturbed, in

order

158

Nk0:

ordtr to lay fbme moiarft
Various trifling rd^oes <^ hp^^^ik^'
were recovered^ and among 6&xm
fack-bottles of ftunted forwi^ mM
the coarfeft glais. Two of them
creft of Combe upon them. TbtiN^ 1
theme for a reverie ! Sack fircMeii dKl
lege, taken up to the Houfel WuW
offering from John k Combe ^
T6tne&? Was it a ipedal jnftfeeil
ibme Chriftmas time, when die
the Lady Joyce or the Poet ple<%tiii|
cup, and did honour to the
*^Head?" WhocanteU? The
bottles funk in the mud of a ililiii|l
centuries come back to li^t,atid tdl^
what fiiendly terms the fiuniliee <£ i
and Clopton were, in the days wl:
jdedg^ the toaft in (kck:^

* One of theie bottles is now in
author. Firom the length of time
buried, it has acquired thofe prifiBfttk
gfx>w upon glais under the ibiL

Stratford-upon-Avon. 159

There is but one place left which, in
its reliques and aflbciations, brings Shake-
fpere vividly back to the imagination, and
that is Clopton Houfe !

We enter its noble hall, with recefled
bay-window full of the Clopton coats of
arms, and running our eyes round the
walls we light upon the manly, maflive
head of George Carew, Lord Totnefs.
There hangs his portrait as frefh, and in
as fine prefervation as the day it was
painted.* There, too, are numerous
members of the Clopton family — Joyce,
the Countefs, venerable men, and noble
ladies, coming down in fucceflion to Mr.
and Mrs. Partheriche. There is a fplen-
did original of the " Lady Elizabeth,"

Cromwell's

* There are two portraits of Lord Carew at Clopton
Houfe. The one here referred to came from Allon
Hall, Birmingham ; the other, which has always been
in the houfe, hangs in one of the galleries. Both
pidures feem to have been painted at one date, and
the treatment is the fame j but the Allon is in far the
bcft prefervation.

:i"

i^

1 60

Mm

Cromwell's mother: luid ai
ing painting of the river fitmt ^^
hall Palace in the days of iIhb
Among a multitude of other%lB #|
tiful portrait of Sir Edward WaUcer,i
ing his badge of Garter King*

In turning over the papers $oA
of Clopton Houfe the authcnr met^
an ancient written and emendated i
the third part of ** Jewd's Apolqg|ri^|

What ftory could this manul^pl J
It is in the handwriting of the
Mary and Elizabeth. Whofe mk,y
book? Could it ever have
Jewel himfelfy or was it made ibr,
member of this Clopton haiSLjX
can guels ? .

Perhaps the moft precious booiBL ;
at Clopton is a fmall volume by
Pynfon — a coUeiStion of Statutses^ ;
as complete and perfed as die
iilued fix)m the preis of the Kin|^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 6 1

This book traniports us back to Shake-
fpere's own times. It was in his day
exadtly what we fee it now. Whence it
came, whofe it was, none can tell. But
it is among the old books and papers
of fuch a place as Clopton that we
beft like to meet with fuch a book.
Tumbling about in unknown nooks and
corners there may yet be found other
fuch, and more diredt evidences conned:ed
both with the Poet's period and the Poet
himfelf. Here, at leaft, is one book pub-
liflied before Shakefpere's birth, which we
find preferved not only in Warwickfhire,
but in the very houfe with which all his
circle of friends is afTociated. Let the
fadt fpeak for itfelf.

From the houfes let us glance at their
mafters and miftrefles !

Much ftrefs has been laid upon heraldic
refearch, and the author, — it may be fome-
what boldly, but, neverthelefs, very fin-

cerely, —

l52

MMl

ccrdy, — ^has expre^ pxA
opinion about the value of
cords, upon which there needs Hd^
to be exprefled; but his ixumdlld^
there is yet much knowledge to be^
from reiearchesy to which a cofil|
the Warwickfliire pedigrees of
ipere's age, would lead the inqi;
prepaiing thefe pages for the
examination of the Vifitations has
author again and agsun upon ^btt^
information of which he was
in utter ignorance. May n&t ^i|
refult await other inquirers ? Mi
we experience a frefhened interdfiki
we gain a knowledge of the
furround the Poet in familiari
That marriage regifter —

"1561. June 4. — Johannes CSomlM|^ I
" ct Bosa Cloptcmne^'—

brings Shakefpere into

the great folk at Cloptpn BmtM

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 6 3

years. Rofe was married the year after
her father died, and her brother William
had come into pofleflion. She was mif -
trefs of the College during the iirft fifteen
years of the Poet's life, and as flie watched
him growing, and fawhim attain his fourth
year, (he would hear the news from the
Houfe that her brother's wife had brought
him a little girl — duly chriftened Jocofa
or Joyce. This was the future Countefs.
The Poet would be juft old enough to
remember her being born, the year after
William Underbill, Efquire, had come to
refide at New Place. The boy and girl
grew up to man's and woman's eftate,
familiar with the fame people and having
the fame friends. In 1575, Queen Eliza-
beth arrived at Kenilworth, and Mafter
Langham, in his letter to Mailer Martin
defcribing the Queen's vifit, difcovered
that "Olid Hags, prying into everyplace,
** are az fond of nuelltiez az yoong girls

" that

164

Nm

^ that had never &eii

Then did the moi of

petition that they *^ moou^t

** their old Storical Shsatw^^^yi^l

^Maid dooun they knoe no caiv^

^^onlefs it wear by the zed of ^

** thejrr preachers. Men very 1

^^ able for their belmvioor and

*^ and fweet in their fermons^ bift

*^ what too four in preaching awigr^

"Paftime/'*

Among the young girls w^ hftdl
feen Court afore we may probalU]^^
Joyce Clopton, for the audior
covered, among the pedigree MS&;
cuftody, that at an early age Jc

rrfcTJ^

* A curious MS. Qop7 of the oeMnMl^
'' wherein part of the £ntertainm^it imto 1
''Majeily at Killingwooith Caffii: in W«
''this Soomerz Progreil» 1575, is figntfid^*|
author's pofleffion. The writer notes ^ r ^
'' is valuable." Tlie author*s mune It^
Mr. Knight calls him '' the tat
^'Laneham.**

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 6 5

appointed a Maid of Honour to Queen
Elizabeth, being " a great favourite and
" remarkable for her virtues." Moft
likely the Queen firft faw the little girl,
aged feven, on this memorable occa-
fion, when William Clopton (C), her
father, came to Kenilworth to do honour
to Leicefter. However this may be, the
lithe Joyce muft have been brought about
the Queen's perfon at a very youthful
period, for young George Carew, a Cap-
tain in the army, met her, made love to
her, and married her without her father's
knowledge when (he was 1 9 years of age !
" Mr. Clopton was greatly difpleafed
" with his daughter's marriage with Cap-
" tain Carew, which was without his
** knowledge and confent, and intended to
" diiinherit her. But upon an accidental
" meeting and converfmg with Captain
" Carew, he found him a man of fuperior
*' genius and fine addrefs, which quali-

" fications

^:-

li^

Md^

siv •

^^ fications fo eSeStm&f*

^^ him to his favour diat ]ie^i9#i

'* ciled, and fettled his eftate 41

*^ which was veiy confiderabli^fqplMil

" and his daughter." v /f^

By reference to the Pedigre^il ^
found that Clopton House was '%^^
poilefiion of three peribns
whole of Shakefpere's life.
Clopton (C) inherited it three:
before the Poet's birth^ aiid
until 1592, when Shakefjperevwi|||
years of age. Joyce and her
fucceededy and long oudiyed the

In thefe three perfbns we hdm||
viduals of rank, importance, mAi
ledual power. The traditioiis-
aflbciate Shakefpere with Clopiolifi
would be of little value, werb it^
they are finger-pofts direding
quiries which give lis every
that he was ib aiibdated Tbtt ^

"I

rrrm.

Stratford-upon-Avon. 167

Cloptons, Underbills, Boughtons (of
Lawford), we find linked together by
family ties and focial bonds. In tbe midft
of them, in the " Great Houfe," that had
belonged to the families of two of them,
Shakefpere refided. It is a happy, plea-
fant picture that the mind creates for
itfelf, as in imagination it repeoples the
College, and New Place, and Clopton
Houfe, and the neighbouring refidences of
Idlicote and Boughton. We feem to fee
our Shakefpere enjoying, and enjoyed in,
fuch fociety. When we turn to the Pedi-
gree, and learn what was the charafter
and fame of George Carew, Earl of Tot-
nefs, we can conceive in the brave foldier's
periods of leave and repofe how greatly
he would appreciate fuch converfation as
he might find in New Place. Carew
was himfelf an author, and efleemed
a literary charafter in his day. Being
fent by James L, in 1 609, on an embafly

to

1 68 New Place,

to France, he drew up on his return a
relation of the ftate of that country, and
gave portraitures of Henri Quatre, and of
the principal people about the Court.
He alfo wrote the " Pacata Hibernia^ a
hiftory of the wars in Ireland, which
Bifhop Nicholfon fays contained the tran-
faftions of three years of much fighting, in
Munfter, from the latter end of the year
1599 to the death of Queen Elizabeth.
He alfo tranflated into Englifh a hiftory of
Irifli affairs, written by Maurice Regan,
a fervant of the King of Leinfter, in the
year 1 1 7 1 ; the MS. of which work
was formerly in the library of the Duke
of Chandos.

Without purfuing the records of pedi-
grees further, it is to be hoped that
enough has been brought forward to
anfwer the queftion at page 105, which
the author fuppofed being put to him.

It is true there is no pofitive and direft

evidence

iktt Shakrfpere ever aflbciated
of idle peribns that luive been
lidL Heaven forbid that there ever
pii be fbvnd any diredfc evidence that
i lbnhted with any of the perfons into
pfe^lbdety he is degraded by tradition 1
|p| which is the truftier of the two---
^fAr ifid natural conduiions which the
m| 4riW8 fix)m the contemplation of
IIWii^Hiraneous hSts ; or the idle, loofe,
bfllBitiiig ftories of perfons who had
l^jfam the Poet, or could ipeak a
H^^DIB their own knowledge?
Ultrrlprrr's charader, read by the
llIN taper-light of village goffip, is
;§ih<l ebarader which the ftudent of
would expedt to meet, and be

f.difiij^inted if he did not meet

■^1

I

w

ifo

imci

t

&nie of right zndmpmg,'
dean, fober and diiSblute.
either was or was not a man ^i
reipeAy as well as a Poet to
he Tank fo low as to have &&
with tipplers and drunkardhj^'
diminifhed regard tamifhes
liancy of our admiration. But Mi
abfolutely no evidence whatei^eM
aught againft the man ; if deer
and vagabondifing, and hard
are unfupported by a fingle
proved fadt ; and if, on the (
are fingularly at variance with
the known Ja^s of this great nciifl^
is but juft to his memory, aoili
him the honour which is his
fcout with contempt the
tap-tubs and the vulgar goiSS^^^

The view of Shakeipaefi>
character which the wxattir^
not drawn from imaginatllR^i

t^jivan.

171

Qiidiiie which will admit of

It is eafy to mount a Pe-

and ibar aloft on the wing$ of

|iient words about his genius^

Mb poetry^ and his dramatic ikill^

llptfie profidc, and not the ientimental^

of die man Shakeipere with which

pag^ are engaged. It is Shake-

ri. Home which is their concern.

ig our feet on a few acres of land^

the £badow of Holy Crois, in

the object is to know as much

about that home hiftorically

UkanOyf and to know what the man

i^^iniK) inhabited it

^^^pHIb ambidon to acquire poiTeffion of

was as honourable and laud-^

llH it feems natural. Was not John

the Poet's father, engaged in

trade as the great Sir Hugh

lioweyer wide the difference in

t«£ their dealings? That Great

Hodb

k '

172

"Mm:

Houfe had been dii
home. It had bdonged m^MM
who made his money In OM
the Cheape. Before Sfaake^en^
for London, when hk fiither int
ficulties, he very probably todk &
ing look at the faoui^— tod^
from the memory of the man
lived in it» — and fet out for
with a flem determination to WiB
pendence himfelf, and return to
Stratford, enjo3ring it. Let us
circmnilances of his life> and
find all this is moft natural^ nd
niies with what we know iff^
running away to London^ like
to cfcape Sir Thomas Lucy, is a
crack-brained flory, bafed upom
whatever ; but invented foliar 4^
make out a reafon for Shak
when a natural and fuSBdmt^
clofe at hand.

Stratford-upon-Avon. 173

Lord Southampton gave him £1000
to complete fome purchafe he greatly
defired. There was a purchafe com-
pleted, and probably completed in a hurry,
for the vendor fold in Eafter term, and
was dead in July ! May not Lord South-
ampton's money have been given for this
particular purpofe? And when Shake-
fpere was fettled at New Place, what are
the evidences, the fa6lsy we know of
him ? They uniformly go to prove that
he was a careful, induftrious, money-
making man, feeking to acquire property
and to found a family. His proper
ambition is difcoverable in every move-
ment of his life: in his acquirement cf
New Place ; in his grant of arms by the
College ; in his will ; in his various pur-
chafes of property ; and, laft of all, in the
fociety of the perfons with whom we
conclude, both by pofitive and alfo by
indiredt evidence, that he afTociated.

As

174 ^^''^ PlacCy

As we tread the garden of New Place, |
and recall the mighty dead that once |
trod that fame plot of earth, and callei
it his, let thofe who love to think o^
him as the Poet, think of him alfo as tVv^
Gentleman. The idle talk of men w^^
never knew him has wafted down to ^^
unproved and difcreditable ftories, ^^
his threfhold, when we enter New Pla^ ^^'
let us ihake them, with the duft, fr(^=^"^
off our feet. Shakefpere's honeft, anxic=^^^
life deferves better from us than a rea^^^"
nefs to hear him defamed. As we tr^^^^
his garden let us think of him, and ju(^=g^
of him by what we know of him. It:: ^s
not much, indeed, but it may fome (^-^X
be more. Such evidence as we have, ^"
tells in his favour. It prefents to u^ ^
man with goodly ambition raifmg hirr^'
felf and his family to prefent indep^^^'
dence, and to everlafting fame. It p:^^'
fents to us a cautious, careful labourer-

tutodhip), ^^two iKXifcto toi^j
^ your fixture life; onekt^i
<" Child of God; tfaeodier^]
«*the Child of Natui^.*' , ^^^TM
From Shakdjpere's Hmm '§St^
Place, many of die pageis of
went forth to the world;
garden, among its trees and
thoughts were meditated. iM 10:
his memory where his vei^
ieems to overfhadow us.

'* A gleam qfdmfUgkiJet

WiUgUdthe clood ^«0rf >
Jnd thefouTs light Imgar fk
aer the place UJigkei ifi» F^

In writing about Shakelfltt^
fadt have been fiinged yinA-
conjecture. When once ati
entered upon the field of ^
can wander along at his wl9^^

i^,^^Jl*£A. .,:*.^iA*^^<:lA,

WNt^pM^'^^ IJJ

imliiiiaercd ! But if canjedure is
MjUve <if inquity^ where inquirjr may
wm been fuffidendy made, perhaps
adt ahogether worthleis.
"hnKt did Shakdpere obtain his
rtedgeP Hiat queftion has been
\\ff wcty ftudent of his works, and
MWer yet been fatis£idtorily anfwered
WL Jonfbn aiierted that he had
ifl Latme, and lefle Greeke/' by
h^ it is to be prefumed, he meant to
diat Shakefpere had received the
MSOB of a daffical education, without
r diftinguifhed as a (cholar. Such a
[nfion might be fairly arrived at from
dy of his plays. But though he
it not have been able to tranilate th6
m or Antigone with eafe, it does not
t itf a doubt, that in fome way or
IliM at an early age, he muft have
|^|Kfibfifively^ perhaps indifcrimi^

^

I

1

178

At eighteen he eaartwk
whether he was a lawyer's deflE»<
ticed «) bufiiK^^hadioUkedJaii^
culum at (cbool. before that -eisa
are confequently reduced to the
of confidering his "education*'
cally fo called) as finifhed wlusiirl
ieventeen years of age. Had he 1
the mais of information with
mind was ftored, previous to. that'
or^ du{ing the labours of auiiipt^lj
adtor in London^ did he find
purfue the cultivation c^ his
well as to inform himielf of ^)%:
and hiftorical fadts regarding ai^)
ticular play which he was
write? A diftinguiihed
the prefent day once anfwered the 1
theie lines (on his exprefling iiupsil
minutely accurate informatioii
by a popular novelift regaidic^ i
hiflory and hiftorical records of ii

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 79

had never vifited), " Oh ! give a man a
" fortnight at the Britifh Mufeum and he
"will get up any period or place you
" pleafe." No doubt there is much truth
in this remark ; but, imprimis^ Shakefpere
had no Britifh Mufeum to v^hich he could
refer ; and, in the next place, the know-
ledge he difplays in RomeOy Hamlet^
Macbethy or any of the plays, the plots of
which he borrowed from hiftorical books,
trails, or ftories he had read, is of a very
much deeper and profounder character,
than refults from curfory reading. It is
not the knowledge of a " common-place
" book," or a " cram," but the refult of
keen obfervation and clofe ftudy.

Not in the technical, but in the broadeft
fenfe of the term "education," infuffi-
cient inquiry has been made, as to how,
or by what means, Shakefpere became
felf-educated ? for it does not admit of
difpute that his profound knowledge of

human

l86

mm

i^

^

hiiman nature, tttd Im
dty for the acquifitbn d# &i9a^
refult of felf-cultivaeioii. No
fchool of King Edward VI.
a bo3r's mind as ShakeQiefe't
intruded.

Conjedure fpeculates as to
gained his information il ^-

Suggeftion, with a furmi&» majr
whether the hiftory of die
Stratford has ever been Mncmif
nifedy with a view to arriving aft
clufion.

Shakeipere's lines in the Tha0
of the Twe/feA Night have been
quoted:— ^^

Maria. He'sinyelbwJheUngs.
Sib ToBt. And cr^s-gmrteretL
Mabia. Moji vilk£wiyiy : Bkea\

afchoolf ikeekurtk. . !fti

Whether Shakefpere had kit t
ceptor before his mind's -ejftS^
doubted ; but there can be i^i

:^|

vr«(

^mfrri-Mpm^Avan. t8i

t0 a cuftom of his tirne^ which
ime under his own obfervatton^
was the very common habit of
rpttUic ichools in the Lady chapels;
dbfliicels of churches which had for-
^ been conneded with monaftic eftab*

There are many perfons alive who have
to ichools kept in the church—
, the Queen Elizabeth Schod,
was held in the Lady chapel of
JHUxj Reddiffe at Briftol, and in which
'received their education. Schools in
c^ordi were not unconmion. Hie
lat St Alban's continues to be held in
Xid|y chapel of that ftupendous Nor^
labbqr, to the prefent hour. A fchod
llEi|iC (perhaps ftill is) in the Triforium
Churchy Hants, The college
( Wcmefter alio has been held in a
r fndun the Cathedral precin^S.
of ifoch fehook in the chur^i

might

I

S: •

i8i

M#

might be given. But tboe^
markable fad: conneded widi^
have^ as a general rule^ been <
held in' the Lady chapels, ot
fupprejded monaftic inftitutibn% ttidl
buildings that were parodiial
before the Reformation. In
with thefe iupprejGTed monafteries^^
there were frequently valuaUe
rich in ancient chronideSt^taleft i
wars, hiftories of rc^al heroes uid
knights, as well as in - the 'liviss "me
faints, miiTals, and breviaries. I ^ vL j n^

Such an eflablifh6ient was the;
the Holy Crofs. Henry VIIL^il
its conventual' chara<%erJ> His
ward VI. efefted it into a j
The Corporation records ckf St
that the' chancel of the Guild Ci
ufed as a ^^ ichool i* the chi)
is altogether uncertain' whedietll
was continuous or teimporai^^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 183

well and others imagine it was temporary,
founding their opinions upon probabilities
as they fuggeft themfelves to their minds
from an examination of the Corporation
books- The items of allowances there
alluded to in 1568 are: — " for repayryng
" the fcole ; '' " for dreflyng and fweepy ng
" the fcole houfe ; " " for ground and
" fellynge in the olde fcole ; " " for taky ng
" doun the foUer over the fcole/' Mr.
Halliwell comments upon this — **This
" laft entry would alone feem to prove
" that the fchool was not then in the
" chapel, but in another building."

The difference in the terms of defigna-
tion feems to warrant the opinion that
there may have been an intended dif-
tindtion between the " fcole *' and " olde
" fcole." The ufe of the word " olde "
appears to fignify that there were two
fchool -rooms, or places of teaching,
belonging to the one " Grammar School,"

anfwering

^84

mm

the preient day, dbc vqpp^
fi:h6oL And if die dwaed
GuUd Chapel had latdjp hem
priatcd for icholaftic piiipo&si^l^lifviij
natural in the Chamberliin's
deicribe ^e ichool-room in the
buildings of the ancient gbi]^ f|
'^ olde fcole/' It was the tnieft
tion» for the fame pUqe ]Md^et|{|^
"fcole'* for fifty-two years fHrei^kW^^
the fuppreilion of the monajfterie^^
been founded in the laft yearof ibe^
of Edward IV., 148 a, by a
Jol3^e, under charge and CQfxHdi
Guild of the Holy CroiSt . ^j

There is another entry md
Corporation books, of great
In February, 1594, an order
there fhall be no ichool ke^
chapel from that date. Itwifll!ii|
conclude, that up to that f99i^4

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 8 5

Lindation of the fchool in the 7th
" the reign of Edward VL, 1553,
aild Chapel had been ufed for
teaching; and in all probability
that date, the "olde fcole" had
Iditional accommodation given to
it was no longer neceflary to appro-
the Guild Chapel to fuch a pur-
Whether it was habitually ufed
fchool from 1554 to 1594 (as
dy chapel of St. Alban's ftill is,

Mary Redcliffe was until lately),
o great moment, becaufe diftincft
e proves, that, whether occafionally
tually% to fuch ufe it was devoted
the years when Shakefpere was
dI, and (fuppofmg he continued at
until he was fixteen) for fourteen
ibfequently.

lay yet be difcovered that greater
ions were produced upon the mind

boy Shakefpere by the advan-
tages

1 86 New Place,

tages he derived from the " fchool i* the
" church," than have ever been fuggefted
by commentators upon his life! Many
obfcurities have of late years been cleared
up, by a careful perufal of documents
hitherto neglected.

There are poflibly in exiftence many
documents, which, if difcovered, would
throw a flood of light upon the bufinefs
of his manhood and his authorfhip, that
remain for the prefent fhrouded in
obfcurity. Probably enough, on that
night in June, 1613, when Burbage was
performing Henry VIIL in the Globe
Theatre, Blackfriars, and the thatched
roof catching fire, the entire building was
deftroyed, many MSS., plays, and note-
books of the Poet's, may have periflied in
the flames, which would have fet at reft
the unfatisfadlory queftion — How did
Shakefpere acquire his varied, profound,
and alfo defultory knowledge ?

The

im

■Hmi

k

curfivc charaAcr, wliidb,
prefent time the admkatio^ $0^
the puzzle of the wcdd. In.
which we know that ShtJcc
when one of the '* own^s ^* w ^\
of the Globe Theatre^ and ui
ftrain of mental and phjficd
we do find an immenie amomtt 4ai|
''knowledge of a period*' hefin^ i
to, which is rather the biifinc^^
fearcher of records, than of a
literature. This, after al], is t||C^r
ikdeton of a play. The flefii IH9;|^ j
that clothe thoie dry bones of
could not be fo read^up or
The plays of Henry IF^ and JSk
o may ferve for example* Na

^^g-at-Arms, no F.S.A. cottld J
ywith more accurate knowledge |ii|

/and pedigree, than do fa^
thofe of Mortimer (Firft Part ;
ASt ii.), and of the Duke of IT^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 189

Part Henry VI.^ A<ft ii.). No hiftorian
could fketch charad:er more admirably,
or render narrative more tranfparent, than
do the princes and prelates who ipeak
in hSi iv. Second Part of Henry IV. But
while fuch knowledge might have been
ftudied for the purpofe, let it be remem-
bered that this fame Adt is world-famous
for a knowledge of a very different cha-
racter — a knowledge of human nature,
exhibited in the two phafes of high and or-
dinary life, — King Henry and the Prince ;
and Juftice Shallow, Falftaff, and Bar-
dolph, — in itfelf fufficient to have eftab-
lifhed the fame of a humorift or fatirift
of any age. It is not a queftion of pro-
bability, but a known fadt, that Shake-
fpere did model the ikeletons of many of
his plays upon the chronicles which he
read while ad:ively occupied at the Globe
Theatre. Still, that does not account
for the flefh, and blood, and life, with

which

19©

i«^

^

which they are
order to do fo, it &em8
retrace our fteps to Stnrtfeiiit
attribute them toaprecodbusi
ndk, as well as natural quickiiefi4lf I
vation. Quicknefs of obiervadkMI
neceflarily allied with the keeneft
the ludicrous. The tradkkm x£^
ford concerning the Poet's humoiri^
well be trujled when we read Ms}
and when we regard him as a
the follies of mankind^ in
with the fatirifts of modem time%|
attacks are but as the prick of a^
or a pin, compared with the
fcalping-knife !

Shakefpere's knowledge was
it was the moft wonderful
human being has ever ezhibitdl^^
as knowledge refulting from
but it was alfo knowledge
reading and ftudy. In him ei

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 191

nifes the ftudent as well as the obferver.
When did he ftudy ? Where did he
ftudy? A great amount of his know-
ledge of life, as exhibited in his ruflic
charafters and clowns, was, we know, the
photographing of perfons with whom
he had come in contacft in Warwickfhire !
There alfo moft probably was his ftudy ! It
has been aflerted that, towards the clofe
of his life, he regularly retired to Strat-
ford for the purpofe of writing his plays.
The aflertion carries with it every proba-
bility, and it is likely enough the truth,
that at Stratford he was habitually a ftu-
dent to the very clofe of his career. If
the Tempeji or Henry VIIL were the laft
plays he wrote, he muft have been fuch.
We may well incline to the belief, when
we remember the touching farewells
of Profpero and Wolfey to that power
which they had fo long exercifed.
Shakefpere himfelf might be fpeaking

to

192

"ll^^

'i»^.'uA:

to US in the ^'loiig?
lines: — ' £

Bury U certain faihmiu m lAe eera^. .
jind dttper tiuun did €m/t ptMUMm:^HHm^
rUdraammybaok:*

It is not^ however^ with tfaedbfir^
the commencement of hb <
have to do. Was notStratfei^i
houTeof hislife? Didiiof|il
with a precoci^ fuch as hasfelMi i
in Milton and Chatterton, and ibr'^
Lord Byron was nervouify
the world fhould give him i
and thiritily drink at the fimtCtt^
knowledge as were capobl*
reached in his youthful yean f
it may feemingly be a teef
hGtory manner of anfwering a ^
put another; neverthelefi^
lover of Shakei^re has i&ftd^i
continue to afk until die
anfwered, '' Where did the

;-:*>:. ^

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 193

" diverfified learning ? " it may not be
altogether ufelefs to reply to fuch in-
quirers — Have you not pafled over, with-
out fufficiently fearching confideration, the
days that were fpent at " the fchool i' the
"church?" Have you thoroughly in-
veftigated the character of that fchool, and
of the Guild of the Holy Crofs, with
which it was originally incorporated?
Have you fatisfied yourfelves, whether, in
that very church, Shakefpere might not
have found thofe fources of knowledge
which he evidently found fomewhere and
fbmehow ?

Between the date when King Henry
VIII. fupprefled the monaftic eftablifh-
ment in 1536, to the date of his fon,
Edward VI., reviving the School of the
Guild in 1553, only feven teen years inter-
vened. Thofe years were long enough
to complete the work of diiperfion or
deftruftion among: the libraries of abbeys

k

m

ikat were die

but Ad fuck raio

the Holy Cro& Ummmn

tnent of fufficient imp^ttticel

land accordingly it chraged-^

Mowtd the deftiuMS 4£ #i^^

tk»i4 - U , 4j

What hequiie ixf its
chattels— above all, its bodfift't'
kny library conneAed w^^
Sdiool of the Quild ? If %
could there be fbt the o6Sib&k
VIIL to deftroy it, or di^Wife

The problem as to wl
fpetc gained his extdifi?t^
can never be fi>lved Until^
diredlicm jSiall be — if tvt
aniwered. The groui^y ^H^
belief of the audior^ ki
altogether, unbrokien ^iQi»(I^Ii
the readers of thefe pagtt
fatxie coHi^i&ion that hfe -dsmdi

...'^:

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 1 9 5

him to know; but, while the moft in-
terefting of all inquiries regarding the life
of Shakeipere ftill waits for an anfwer,
the author has convinced himfelf, that if
that anfwer is ever rendered, it will come
from Stratford, and not from London ; — it
will prove that William Shakefpere, while
a fchool-boy, with little Latin and lefs
Greek, had neverthelefs a thirft for know-
ledge in his own mother-tongue, a love
for acquiring information of the moft
diverfified character, and a marvellous
po\Yer, or natural gift, for hiving his ftore
in the cells of memory, and bringing forth
that knowledge, " fweeter than honey or
" the honeycomb," whenever it was re-
quired. With a convidlion, which nothing
but abfolute evidence to the contrary
would ever fhake, the author feels morally
certain that at the " fchool i' the church "
Shakefpere had free accefs to fome valu-
able ftore of books, whether belonging

to

%^6

Kl

V •

to the Giiild pfopeiS^^;
of the Guilds or to JS^Xi^
that was contiguoitt md-
iible ; and that from; the:
at which the thirftmg fiJiodNI^
the man, in his occafioul mkii
permanent retii^menttdrjs^
haps there may have: bedi#'
charm and attradtion £»* dm
mankind in fettling at New 1
its gables and cafemoits wwe^
by the glorious: ardkiteOiieeli
Holy Crofs Chapel, wh»i?»i :bii|
covered, and ever after
thofe iilent teachers — dearlMill^
books ! — the unquarreUihg J
changing companions, the i
charms never fade;-^-^alike i
man in the zenith of lit
the ichool-boy with
morning £ice, eageriy
Edward named the i

Stratford'Upon- Avon. 197

i ___^

!

' School) the Pedagogue and "the fchool
! " i' the church."

Though the remains are very fcanty
that ferve to give us any information
regarding Shakefpere, it is fomewhat
remarkable that one of the moft valuable
relics connected with him Ihould have
belonged to his library. One book of
Shakefpere's, with his autograph on
the fly-leaf, exifts. It is Montaigne's
Eflays. Amidft the goflip of literature
with which the modern Prefs abounds, it
is no fmall teftimony to the worth of
fuch books as Montaigne's Eflays, and
Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, that
they ftand without rivals to the prefent
hour; approached only by Hallam, by
D'Ifraeli's "Curiofities of Literature," and
one or two other works of like character,
but unfuroaflled bv anv. in their own

Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 99

Emerfon and Mr. St. John the tafk of
apologifing for the occafionally eccentric
tendency of the Gafcon's fancy — remem-
bering the fafliion of the times in which
he lived, and the vernacular even of courts
and kings, which in modern days would
make the hair of fociety ftand on end — we
might be permitted to arrange in imagi-
nation the bookfhelves of New Place,
and with the fingle vertebra of a library
— Montaigne's Eflays — proceed to the
formation of the body of Shakefpere's
firefide literature, as Profeflbr Owen con-
ftrudts an animal upon the authority of a
bone. Aftonifliing as the number of works
is which Caxton contrived to produce be-
tween the publication of the " Game of
" Chefs," in 1474, and his death in 149 1 —
the year before Sir Hugh Clopton was Lord
Mayor of London — equalling as much as
five thoufand clofely printed folio pages,
this leaping of the giant in the womb of

^Nk)

time (as Mr. Halkm'^
in compariibn witk^ tlis
books during the &ven%]Mifei^
vened between the di^: lif ^
death and Shakefpere'i
printer's &vburite apprenfiMiB»d
Wynkyn de Worde, had
publifhed more than fix hi
at the end of the firft quaftelr 4Dj|j
teenth century. When omse ^^al^
had been eftablifhed at Oxfind
large provincial towns, the iflk^ii
feventy-five volumes a year*' |
the doie of the century wli«
fpere modelled and furmfbed :
at New Place, he had the .]
thoufand volumes publifliedMi j
tongue, and could adorn; his:
with Cranmer's Bible, pufalillie^l
ton, or with one of John I>flif^
that edition of 1 551 for'
was ftrangled; and his bo^

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 201

addition to this, the retirement of Strat-
ford would be enhvened for him by the
arrival of " Mercuries " or " Flying
" Couriers," in which the lateft intel-
ligence from Town would be recorded,
and he might fee what Heminge and
Burbage were about at the Globe.

When fpeculations are hazarded as to
the knowledge of S-hakefpere, and its
fources, it is defirable to have fadts of this
defcription recalled to mind. We ordi-
narily labour under the impreflion that
books were very fcarce in Shakefpere's
days; and if we may take Lord Macaulay's
celebrated picture of England's country
houfes in the time of Charles II. as fome-
thing like the truth, we may make a
pretty fair guefs at what would be the
amount of intelledlual food enjoyed by
the gentry and fquires of Warwickfhire
juft one century earlier. If, between
1660 and 1665, " the difficulty and ex-

202 New F lace J

" penfe of carrying large packets from
" place to place was fo great that an ex-
" tenfive work was longer in making its
" way from Paternofter Row to Devon-
" fhire or Lancafhire than it now is in
" reaching Kentucky," .... and " few
" Knights of the Shire had libraries fo
" good as may now perpetually be found
" in a fervants' hall," the fubjed: of rural
intellectuality would be deprefling in-
deed, on glancing backwards one hundred
years prior to fuch Boeotian darknefs, were
it not that the crab-like movement in this
inftance would be pofitive progrefs, fince
there can be no queftion that learning
degraded in England between the dates
1560 and 1660.

Upon Shakefpere's claflical knowledge,
or maftery of languages, there is little to
be faid, or that needs to be faid fince the 1

publication of Dr. Farmer's (the Mafler
of Emmanuel College, 'Cambridge,)

**Eflay

I

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 203

" Eflay on the Learning of Shakefpere."
That exhauftive pamphlet, Malone can-
didly admitted, was overwhelming in its
evidence, and concluiive, that the Poet's
claflical plays and poems were not con-
ftrudted upon a knowledge of the claflic
authors, but upon tranflations of thofe
authors. Whether Ben Jonfon ever
uttered the flighting words attributed
to him or not, he would be a rampant
enthufiaft indeed who would dare to con-
travene the truth of the words them-
felves. Nothing can be more concluiive
of Shakefpere's mere fchoolboy know-
ledge of Latin than his abfurd mifquo-
tation from Lily's Grammar of a line
which, for the purpofe of example, is
given one way in the grammar, but
runs very differently in the " Eunu-
" chus " of Terence, from which,
had our Poet really been quoting,
he would have quoted corredtly. In

Stratford-upon-Avon. 205

derived, it is very probable, Shakefpere
neither knew nor cared. Probably, with
his keen humour, no one could have en-
joyed a laugh more than he, could he
have liflened to the rubbifti which Shake-
fperian " fcholars " have talked about the
claflical knowledge of a man who was
too honeft even to pretend to any fami-
liarity with the Greek and Latin poets.

The well-worn ftory of Mr. Hales, of
Eton, filtering through the works of
Rowe, Dryden, and Gilrow, is equally
honourable to Mr. Hales, and probably
clofe to the truth.

Rowe writes : " In a converfation be-
" tween Sir John Suckling, Sir William
" D'Avenant, Endymion Porter, Mr.
" Hales, of Eton, and Ben Jonfon, Sir
" John Suckling, who was a profefled
" admirer of Shakefpere, had undertaken
" his defence againft Ben Jonfon with
" fome warmth ; Mr. Hales, who had

"fat

*!&t jftiu Sot £km

***TAat if Mr, SMI/^Mmi

** *the ancunh, he had,

** * afytking /ran themj-a^i

*** would produce mymm

*** treated hy a»f oae tf IlktiK^X

** * undertake to flmojk

** */ame/uAJect at kaft arwetii

** * Shak/pearer* K i-s^.

Fifteen yean before Rowi^ .
ShakeTpere had been |ittbliftie^'
Letters and Effitys (in tii^
iktay. *vThe enemies of
*' would by no means yi^ M
** excellence: fo that it
** lution of a trial of Aafi i^mtl
*' jed. The place agreed omi
** pute was Mr. Hde's chfuiilMll
** A great many books were
*' the oiemies of diis Poict;i
*' appointed cUiy» xitf hoiA \
** John Suckling, and afiv

^•viiixaii

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 207

" quality that had wit and learning, and
" interefted themfelves in the quarrel,
" met there ; and, upon a thorough dif-
" quifition of the point, the judges,
" chofen by agreement out of this learned
" and ingenious aflembly, unanimoully
" gave the preference to Shakfpeare,
" and the Greek and Roman poets were
" adjudged to vail at leaft their glory in
" that to the Englifti hero."

Dryden's allufion to the ftory (" Eflay
" on Dramatic Poefy," 1667,) is as fol-
lows : " The coniideration of this made
" Mr. Hales, of Eton, fay, * that there
" * was no fubjedt of which any poet ever
" * writ, but he would produce it much
" * better done by Shakfpeare.' "

The " ever-memorable " John Hales
was a fcholar of diftinguiftied European
reputation, and, therefore, he muft have
been as familiar with the Greek and Latin
poets as with Shakefpere. He was one

2o8 New Place J

of thofe ripe and broadly read fcholars—
not thick as blackberries even in the nine-
teenth century — who are as familiar with
the poetry of their own country as with
that of the ancients. Hiftory has affured
us of this : and how very few there are
like him ! How very few thofe who
can " cap verfes " in that higheft range
of literary knowledge, where Terence,
Horace, Sophocles, and Euripides, can be
inflantly anfwered by the quotation of a
kindred line from Spenfer, Shakefpere, or
Milton. Hales was one of thefe few
athletes of fcholarfhip, and therefore his
opinion is worthy of all confideration,
while his celebrated victory deferves to
make him, as Malone prayed he might
remain, ** ever-memorable."

The mental gymnaftics thus performed
in Mr. Hale's room at Eton, feem to
point out very diftinftly the ftrength and
the weaknefs of Shakefpere ! " If he

**had

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 209

" had not read the ancients ! " What
then? Mr. Hales knew he had not.
Deeply read himfelf in the claflics, he
knew that his favourite was not fo. But,
what then ? Point out any moral, any
philofophic refledlion, any noble and
elevating fentiment, produced by the
ancient poets, and " I will produce it
" much better done by Shakipeare," faid
Mr. Hales.

From the crucible to which Dr. Far-
mer fubjedted the writings of Shakefpere,
they came forth purged from that alloy
of filly eulogy which was a drofs, giving
to the Poet what never belonged to him,
and depreciating the pure coinage uttered
by his brilliant brain. The marvel of
Shakefpere's works is in the beauties that
are all his own. The prodigality of his
genius may in fome degree be eftimated
when one of England's greateft fcholars
challenges the ancient poets, and declares

2IO New Place J

himfelf ready to " cap " any fentiment
of their verfe by a iimilar fentiment,
equally well or better expreffed in
Shakefpere. And who, in the trial, wins
the vidlory ? Let it be granted frankly
that Shakefpere, in writing his Troilus
and CreJJiday followed Caxton's Hif-
tory of Troy ; that he borrowed from
Plutarch; that he read HoUinflied in
order to conftruft Richard III. ; that
he ftudied a tranflation of Belleforeft
before he wrote Hamlet ! — Let the
fame fort of fadts be quoted againft
Henry IV., Richard II. , and all the hif-
torical plays : and what does it amount
to ? Both the clofet and the ftage are
witneiTes to the truth, that the more
" hiftorical " the Poet is — the more
he depends upon and adheres to chroni-
cles or legends — the lefs powerful he is.
Thofe plays are the leaft popular which
are the moft hiftorical, for the fimple reafon

that

Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 1

that where he has to trace the hiftory of
a reign in the cramped limits of a play,
he is ncceflarily fettered, and the fcope of
the Poet's fancy is more or lefs fubjedted
to the inevitable rehearfal of fadts. How
different is it in the unapproached per-
fection of treatment, progreflive develop-
ment of plot, and poetry of diftion in
Othello and Macbeth. In thofe, as in
Hamlet J and Romeo ^ and King Lear^ a
fcheme of the play has been derived
from ancient writers, or tranflations, but
nothing more. The genius of the Poet
has been left free to portray character,
and to clothe fentiment with words as
no other poet ever did.

There is every difference between learn-
ing and language. Shakefpere's know-
ledge was not a knowledge of language,
but it was the knowledge of learning. It
is highly probable that he never derived
a fingle claffical incident, alluiion, or

ttotf^ dircA &m&Mi
equally probabk tlii)t:l^a
read a Greek phyfmiilux0ft^
Terence than he had
Lily's Grammar! r> fxj^i^^

The more we real& rl3tffiki
they are fads), and the .laiMit
the learning of the Poet/;
does not thereby fink, but J
our admiration. We ifad|iJb|R^
tcn&om—poji-martem hoximimi
he laid no claim— ;and r^
as what he is, the Poet of.
uttering in Englifh ver&* jiM»
gathered from, or fuggdiedi
literature. . . >>>j

We have feen that ^Nw^
thoufand volumes publifliO|Ai
during the century in wl]i|
rifhed, and that every yeaf^
largely to the informi^^b^j
men. Whatever truth

*A^^iJ^r^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 3

Macaulay's ftridtures upon the ignorance
prevailing in the reign of Charles IL, the
bufinefs of Shakefpere's life involved read-
ing and ftudy. And although it is true
that the circulation of books in the rural
diftridls of England may have been very
flow, ftill this objection would not be any
impediment to Shakefpere, who, living
conftantly in London, and travelling to
and fro between Stratford and town,
would have ample opportunity to take
down with him into the country any
books which he wifhed to read. Chro-
nological tables of the order in which his
plays were written, founded upon internal
evidence, dates of performance, or of
publication, have frequently been pub-
lifhed. Such tables are after all conjec-
tural, and it is no proof of the date when
a play was written, to learn when it
was printed or played. In the abfence
of demonftration, the conjecflures of

Malone

214 ^^'^ Place J

Malone and Chalmers attribute, the one
feven, the other eleven plays to Shake-
fpere prior to his purchafe of New Place
in 1597. The far more fatisfadory,
becaufe pofitive, fadls which Mr. C.
Knight gives us, ftiow that only three
plays had been publiflied prior to 1597.
With a very trifling amount of excep-
tion it may, therefore, be ftated that the
mafs of his plays were written during
his tenancy of New Place ; and all the
greateft, without doubt, during the latter
period of his life. Within lixteen years
thirty-four plays of Shakefpere's were
either printed or fpoken of in print,
giving us an average of two plays a
year ; their adual publication, or direft
allufion to them in particular years, being
as follows : —

In

^^97 •

a

•

,

3

Plays.

»

1^598 .

.

•

•

8

f*

»

1600 .

.

•

•

S

»

if

1602 .

•

•

•

3

»*

Id

tratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 5

I Play.

emarkable that, according to
le Poet worked the hardeft

year he became poiTefled of
, and for the four or five years
It feems natural to conclude
fpere purchafed New Place
w to making it his literary
)r it is impoflible to refift con-
h the purchafe, the fecundity
Let us only confider the
f work in which he was em •
n in London, and let any man

anfwer whether it would be
Shakefpere, regularly employed
rs or the Globe, rehearfing and
, to ftudy the plots and pro-
[SS. of eight or five tragedies
les per annum. If he could

21 6 New Place J

have done fo, he would have been a far
greater prodigy than the w^orld has ever
yet accounted him. Such an Herculean
labour of mind and body is beyond the
capacity of any human being. But if
we attach the purchafe of New Place to
Shakefpere's fuccefs as a play-writer, and
contemplate him withdrawing there from
the excitement and buftle of Blackfriars
to produce the Merchant of VenicCy
and Midfummer Nighfs Dream, then
that garden, and the flender remains of
the foundations of his houfe feem to be-
come doubly precious to Engliflimen.
As time wears on his labours flacken; but
almoft to the end he continues bringing
forth from the treafures of his mind the
immortal works which gild his fame.
The opinion of many writers has been
that Shakefpere was undomefticated, and
that he rarely viiited Stratford. Humbly,
but confidently, the writer embraces a

diredUy

Stratford-upon-Avon. 217

diredtly oppofite opinion. To him it
appears impoffible that Shakefpere could
have accompHfhed the Hterary work he
produced, immerfed in the bufinefs and
diftradting engagements of Blackfriars or
the Globe. Circumftances feem to give
credit to the fuppolition that a larger
amount of his time was fpent at New
Place than is commonly eftimated ; and
as to his being undomefticated, or un-
happy in his home, fuch an uncharitable
and purely conjeftural idea has not even
as much refpedtability as the mare's-neft
which De Quincey difcovered in the
marriage licenfe. The minds that give
welcome to the one notion will, moft
likely, cherifh the other.

Inftead of Shakefpere reiiding in Lon-
don and occafionally vifiting Stratford, it
may be much nearer the truth to fay that
he lived the latter years of his life chiefly
at New Place, and only vifited London at

2i8 New Place J

thofe periods of the year when his prefence
was abfolutely neceflary. The probabili-
ties are ftrongly in favour of this opinion,
and there is no evidence to the contrary.
For the laft eighteen years of his life he is
prefented to our imagination as the mafter
of New Place. He is not to be regarded
during thofe years enjoying retirement and
repofe, like many of the great men who
have followed him in his profeflion, as
Garrick at Hampton, John Kemble at
Laufanne, or Macready at Sherborne and
Cheltenham.

The " filver livery of advifed age,"
which it was permitted the two iirft — and
long may it be allowed to the third— to
wear, was never donned by Shakelpere.
He died in the frefhnefs and vigour or
life ; and, as we know of a certainty, con-
tinued actively employed until the clofc
of his exiftence. It is faddening to think
how little aiTociated with his private life

remains

Stratford'UpOH'Avon. 2 1 9

remains to us. A letter, a will, a deed,
a book — and that is all ! How different
the fate of the mafter and his apprentices.
There are happily preferved to us the
chief incidents in the life of Garrick ; and
many articles of perfonal property be-
longing to him, which are highly prized.
When Shakeipere was dead a hundred
years, fcarce a trace of him remained. A
few ftories gathered from goflips hung
about his track in Stratford ; but anything
adlually aflbciated with him would have
been as hard to difcover there, as the
Philofopher's Stone. The hundred years
was only juft completed, when the houfe
in which he had lived and died was razed
to the ground. The defcendants of his
lifter, Joan Hart, as the pedigree (hows,
have reached down to our own days.
Poflibly fome of them may ftill exift in
the neighbourhood of Tewkeibury or
Gloucefter. To Joan he bequeathed not

only

220 New Placey

only his houfe in Henley Street, and
twenty pounds, but alfo " all my wearing
" apparel."

What would the world now give to
fee a fuit of wearing apparel that had been
worn by Shakelpere ? If the coat of
Napoleon in the Louvre, or of Nelfon in
Greenwich Hofpital, attradls the attention
of tens of thoufands, what would be the
value of and intereft in the black gown,
" garded with velvet and faced with
" cony ;" the ruddy coloured hofe, the caf-
fock, the jerkin, the " fryze bryches," the
rapier, and " the hat of a certain kind of
" fine haire, fetched from beyond the feas,
"which they call * bever hatte.' "?*

Shakefpere's wardrobe muft have been
ftocked with articles of this defcription.
They were all left to his fifter ; and his
fifter's defcendants certainly furvived to

the

* Fairholt's " Coflume in England/* p. 216 (i860, Ed.)

J

Stratford-upon-Avon. 221

the end of the laft century. It would
have feemed natural for them to have
preferved fome of the coftume of the
Poet, but there is not a trace of anything
of the fort.

In the fame way he bequeathed to
Mr. Thomas Combe his fword. The
pedigree fhows us how the Combe pro-
perty pafTed into the Glopton family, by
the marriage of Martha Combe with
Edward Clopton. What would his
countrymen not give to recover Shake-
fpere's fword ? Its prefervation would
have been moft eafy. If the fword of the
Conqueror could be preferved in the
family of the late Sir Godfrey Webfter,
with the Roll of Battle, down to the
middle of the laft century, and only then
perifhed through the misfortune of a lire,
why could not the Combes and Cloptons
have preferved Shakefpere's fword ? Why
might it not have been depofited ere this

222 New PlacCy

in fome national treafury? If there is
an article of ufe which has the quality of
defying accident and time, it is a fword.
Very probably Shakefpere's fword ftill
exifts, but has been loft or fold ! Who
knows whether it may not have been
among the furniture and chattels fold
off by Mr. Batterlbee, previous to the
demoUtion of Stratford College, the
refidence of the Combes ?

What became of the broad filver-gilt
bowl bequeathed to Judith Shakefpere—
Mrs. Quiney ? What became of the
" chattels, plate, jewels, and houfehold
" ftuff" bequeathed to Dr. Hall and
Mrs. Hall ? Thefe would naturally de-
fcend to Lady Barnard ; and at her deceafc
would continue in the ufe of Sir John
Barnard, until his death in 1673. Neither
Lady Barnard's will, nor the indenture
relating to her property, make any men-
tion of Shakefpere's heir-looms. The

broad

Stratford-upon-Avon. 223

broad filver-gilt bowl, the plate, the
jewels, all vanifh from fight. Articles
of this defcription do not perifh or con-
fume away. They may exift now in as
excellent prefervation as in 1 6 1 6 ! If fo,
what has become of them ? Unlefs the
filver bowl was fold by the Quineys, and
melted down, it would moft probably be
engraved with a creft, or a monogram,
or fome device whereby it could be
recognifed. Is it yet too late to inftitute
a fearch for fuch an invaluable relic of
the Poet ? A man of Sir John Barnard's
ftation would naturally leave plate, jewels,
and property, to his heirs or relatives.
It is faid that this family has died out
within a very fhort time at Abingdon^ in
Berk/hire. If fuch is the fadt, family
heir-looms do not defcend to the grave :
they pafe to fome one. If the inquiry
has not yet been diligently made, it is
well worth while to know in what di-

red:ion

224 ^^'^ PlacCy

redtion the Barnard property has gone;
and to trace — failing direct male defcent
— the female iflue, and the marriages
which may have carried property into
other families. It feems impoflible but
that Elizabeth Hall muft have inherited
the plate and jewels which belonged to
her grandfather ; and as (he makes no
direcfl mention of them in her will, it is
natural to fuppofe they continued in
pofTeflion of her huiband.

We fee Shakefpere's perfonal property
divided among his children and his fifter :
to one his wardrobe is bequeathed, to
another his plate, to another his broad
filver bowl, and to Thomas Combe his
fword ! It is hard to believe that a man
valued during his lifetime as Shakefpere
w^as, and immortalifed fo quickly after
his death, fhould be held in the leaft
efteem by thofe of his own houfehold.
It is hard to think that no one belonging

to

[^ix

'«25

hlwBEi fliould defire to preferve the me-
which he had particularly be-
to them in his will. And yet
&£t ftares us in the £tce that not a
heir-loom of the Poet has been
down, by any one branch of his
f, to the prefent day ! All^ all
.loft and gone, lave one book, the
m of which has been purely
mtal!

Row^ who acknowledges himfelf in-
i to Betterton for a confiderable part
^ tlie paflages relating to the Poet's life
in his Biography (publiihed
Hi), inferms us that Betterton's ^^vener*^
^ memory of Shakeipere • . •
m to make a journey into
liiidciihire, on purpofe to gather
remains he could of a name
1^ had in fi> great veneration/*
that Betterton was bom
uijkt &me year in which Dr.

John

'.«r0

i-^:,:'

'^..>^

226 New Place^

John Hall died — and that his daughter
furvived until 1669, when Betterton was
thirty-four years of age, — and confidering
alfo that fhe was eight years of age when
her grandfather died, and therefore per-
fedlly able to fpeak of him from her own
recollection, — it does feem extraordinary
that the remains which Betterton went
to Stratford to gather up were fo fcanty.
He would find Shakefpere's children all
dead, but his refidence in the pofleflion
of his grandchild, who, though living at
Abington, was probably an occafional
vifitor to her property in Stratford. Had
he even made her acquaintance, with
what a fund of information might
Rowe's Life have been enriched! and
what treafures connected with the Poet
might have been chronicled, and poffibly
preferved, through his intereft ! But the
fates feem to have ordered it otherwife.
The Poet had not been dead twenty

years

Stratford-upon-Avon. 227

years when Betterton was born ; and
within half a century of Shakefpere's
deceafe, this venerator of his memory
probably vifited Stratford. From that
place he does not feem to have brought
back with him a fingle memento of the
Poet; or to have feen his fword, his filver
bowl, his books, or any of his chattels,
at a defcription of which the ears of
every antiquary in England would now
tingle, while to recover one of them
would make any prefent difcoverer
famous.

Fifty years, and the treafures of the
Poet were unnoticed or unknown ! One
hundred years, and the domeftic aflb-
ciations of his pupil and interpreter,
David Garrick, are as freflily and care-
fully preferved as if he had been in
their midft yefterday ! Within a mile
of one another, at Hampton and Hamp-
ton Court, are two relidences, which,

fo

228 New Place,

fo long as they exift, will be for ever
aflbciated with Shakefpere and Garrick.
Thanks to Mr. Peter Cunningham's
timely difcovery in the Audit Office of
the "Revel's Booke," we now know when
" Shaxberd's " Plaie of Errors^ his Mar-
chant of Venisj his Mefur for Mefur,
and his Merry Wives of Winfory were per-
formed before James I. We know with
certainty of two noble chambers — and
thofe royal chambers — in which Shake-
fpere was feen and heard, and of none
other ; for though it would be almoft a
profanity to difturb the tradition which
identifies the houfe in Henley Street,
Stratford, as the birthplace of the Poet,
there is no abfolute certainty of fuch
being the cafe. The Banqueting Houfe,
at Whitehall, and the mifnamed ** Wol-
" fey's Hall," at Hampton Court, wherein
Shakefpere's company performed before
the king in the winters of 1603 and 1604,

arc

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 229

are chambers for ever aflbciated with the
hiftory of England ; and not among their
minor aflbciations is the recolledlion that
in them the King of England liftened
to the Poet's plays — faw the Poet him-
felf as one of the players — and "be-
" flowed efpecial honour upon Shake-
" fpere," in " an amicable letter." The
letter was in the pofleflion of Sir William
Davenant as reported, and there feems no
reafon to queftion the truth of the report.
But whether it be true or not, there is no
queftion regarding the enadlment of the
tragedies and comedies before the Court
at Whitehall and Hampton. We are
thus enabled to interweave the memory
of our Poet with two ftrudlures utterly
diflimilar in architedlural detail, but each
a princely pile, and each clofely con-
nedted with the moft ftirring events of
hiftory.

Prince Charles, a child of four years

of

<f»

age, may

lune

1^

knee, and witndiy^#i
done by the >foor«iii
through which he mwrn
deed of Mood yam
hiftoty of thtt Pahuxi oi^
familiar to eveiy fihoottiQp^!
ftmiliar that of the t««»^
have adorned the Palace 1^1
Court Forcontraft^ferfii^^
in hiftorical painting, whui'
of fiinfliine and (hower oMllil
dramatic than airigoroQS
Wblfejr's Banqueting HtOi^
have appeared when he
French Ambaffiulor^-^p^whaif
Revdj^ was held there
of James, and Shake^pem^
the hall which now
fite as WoUey^s, whkh '
defigned by him, but iKSi
the 22nd Henry VIII.»

tk

'L,.*^-;

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 231

Cardinal had left the Palace for ever; — and
on the oppofite or (hadowed fide of the^"
pifture, when Mary inhabited the Court,
liftening to the mafles and prayers of her
priefts, praying for her fafe deliverance of
an heir to the throne of the realm, which
was never deftined to be born ; or when
Cromwell, in his domeftic gloom, paced
up and down that Hall, liftening to the
mufic of the " box of whiftles," which
Puritanic opinion thought too PopiQi for
the chapel of Magdalen College, but was
a fit inftrument, eredled in the Minftrers
Gallery at Hampton, to foothe the
throbbing breaft of the Lord Protedtor.

George Cavendifh defcribes Wolfey's
entertainment to the Ambaflador of
Francis I. Nearly three hundred bed-
rooms were fitted up to receive his
fuite, each provided with a bafin and
ewer of filver, wine and beer veflels of
filver, bowls, goblets, and filver fconces.

At

232 New PlacCy

At the banquet, boufFets ftretched acrofs
the end of the Hall, having fix fhelves
one above the other, crowded with gold
and lilver plate. During the fecond
courfe the Lord Cardinal came in, booted
and ipurred, and giving all welcome, took
a golden bowl filled with hypocras, and
drank to the health of his Sovereign
Lord and of the King of France. What
a contrail to the fpedlacle witnefled on
the fame ipot in the following century,
when the King-killer, quivering with
emotion as his child lay dead in an ad-
joining chamber, wandered in his foli-
tude about that Palace! There Mary
likewife had wandered in her folitude!
and there, too, Charles had pafled fome
of his bittereft days! Strange aflbciations
thefe, with the Hall in which Shakcfperc
and his company had performed before
Charles's father, and perchance in
Charles's prefence !

The

Sirai^d^upGH^Awn. 233

|%e deftrudion of New Place^ and
i I0& and deftrudiion of every article
imribna] proper^ that the Poetbe-
aohed to lus family, excepting one
^ — ^Florio's tranilated edition of Mon-
pie (1603), with his fignature in^
ibed^ — ^muft for ever reniain a matter of
S deepeft regret. We only know of fix
Uttues of Shakeipere. All, fave one, are
iciided to legal documents. The auto-
^ in Montaigne is the only fcrap of
tdng by the Poet which afibciates us
ll him in his literary life. However
Uflble his fignature may be, a £u: higher
\m attaches to his writing in a book
h' was one of his companions and
fttdi^ and poilefled a place in his hom^
in tiie mere execution of a hard, dry,
||:. document. A very interefting
of Shakefpere's copy of Mon«*
Nras written by Sir Frederick
which ftates that it was pm^

rhafifd

4

i

■!<f.

J

li-->. :

234 ^^'^ F lace J

chafed in 1838 for the Britifh Mufeum,
from the Rev. Edward Pattefon, of Eaft
Sheen, and had belonged to his father,
the Rev. Edward Pattefon, of Smeth-
wick, near Birmingham, by whom, pre-
vious to the year 1780, the volume ufed
to be exhibited as a treafure, on account
of its containing the autograph of Shake-
fpere. In other words, the book and its
autograph were fhown with pride, and not
for faky prior to Ireland's forgeries, and
the vulgar attempts to imitate Shakeipere's
fignature by fuch impoftors as Jordan,
" the Poet of Stratford^' fave the mark !
Sir Frederick Madden fays, and fays
properly, "the prefent autograph chal-
" lenges and defies fufpicion." The book
of itfelf is interefting, apart from its con-
nedlion with Shakefpere ; and as it is a
treafure which can only be infpedled by
Ipecial leave, it may be well to publilh

its title.

THE

By him that hath inviolably vowed his labours to the

iEtcrnitie of their Honors,

Whole names he hath feverally infcribed on thefe his

confecrated Ah ares.

To the Rig hi Honorable

LUCIE, CO : OF BEDFORD,

and

LADIE ANNE HARRINGTON,

Her Ho. Alother,

Cri)e ^econtf 33aalte.

CI)e C^frtf 33aoiie.

To the Right Honorable

LADIE ELIZABETH GREY,

and

LADIE MARIE NEVILL.

To the Right Honorable

ELIZABETH, CO : OF

RUTLAND,

and

LADY PENELOPE

RICHE.

JOHN FLORID.

% Printed at London, by Val. Sims and Edward
Blount, dwelling in Panics Churchyard. 1603.

Stratford-upon-Avon. 237

That Shakefpere was familiar with
this tranflation is put beyond all doubt
by the fad: that, in Ad: ii.. Scene 2, of the
Tempejiy he quotes from it almoft word
for word : —

" r the commonwealth, I would by contraries
Execute all things : for no kind of traffic
IVould I admit ; no name of magi/irate ;
Letters Jhould not he known ; riches, poverty.
And vfe of fervice, none; contract, fucceffion.
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none ;
No ufe of metal, com, or wine, or oil;
No occupation ; all men idle, all;
And women too ; hut innocent and pure.'*

The paflage thus quoted, in Florio,
Book i.. Chap. 30, runs as follows: —
Speaking of a newly difcovered country,
which he calls Antartick France, Mon-
taigne obferves : — " It is a nation — would
" I anfwer Plato — that hath no kind of
" traffike ; no knowledge of letters ; no in-
" telligence of numbers ; no name of
" magijiratey nor of politike fuperioritie ;
" no ufe of fervice J of riches j or of poverty;
" no contrasts ; no fuccejjions ; no divi-

" dences ;

238 New Place J

" dences ; no occupation^ but idle ; no
" refpeft of kindred, but common ; no
" apparell, but naturall ; no manuring of
"lands; no ufe of nvine^ corne^ or
*' mettle,'' &c.

That the volume in queftion belonged

to a library in Shakeipere's time, its binding

fliows, particularly in the Tudor-fafliioned

fleur-de-lis and crown ornamentation with

which the leather is ftamped.

That the volume belonged to Shake-
fpere himfelf, the autograph which
" challenges and defies fufpicion " proves.

Having re-aflerted Sir Frederick Mad-
den's words, it would be unfair not to
quote the following paflage from Mr.
Halliwell's "Life of William Shake-
" fpeare," pp. 280-81 : —

'' It is unnecelfary to fay that many alleged autographs
" of Shakefpeare have been exhibited ; but forgeries of
" them are fo numerous, and the continuity of defign,
" which a fabricator could not produce in a long docu-
" ment, is fo eafy to obtain in a mere figuature, that the
" only fafe courfe is, to adopt none as genuineon interaal

" evideooe

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 239

" evidence. A fignature in a copy of Florio's tranfla-
" tion of Montaigne, 1609, is open to this objedion.
" The verbal evidence as to its exiftence only extends
" as far back as 1780, after the publication of Stevens*
" fac-fimile of the lafl autograph in the will, of which
" it may be a copy with intentional variations.'*

Mr. Halliwell's general accuracy makes
an error, in what he fays of this book,
remarkable; and excites the fufpicion that,
in his fcepticifm, he may have difdained
to give the book that honourable confi-
deration which it really deferves. He
fays, " tranflation of Montaigne, 1 609."
The title above given will fhow that the
date is 1603. The error is hardly worth
notice in itfelf, but well worth it when
fallen into by a gentleman to whofe
painftaking and fearching accuracy we
are fo greatly indebted. It awakens an
imprcflion that Florio's Montaigne may
be worthy of a clofer examination than
it has yet received, and may perhaps con-
tain more intcrefting evidence in favour
of its having belonged to Shakefpere than

has

240 New PlacCf

has as yet been ftiown. For inftance. Sir
Frederick Madden, in his defcription of
the book, notices the manufcript notes
which are found in it, and the quotations
and references on the fly-leaves at the be-
ginning and ending of the volume. He
ftates that he had at firfl hoped thefe
notes might have proved to be in the
handwriting of Shakefpere, but on ex-
amination he concluded they were written
at fome period later than Shakeipere's time,
though not much later, as the character of
the writing proves. There Sir Frederick
leaves the matter. But it is well worth
while to take the book in hand, and re-
fume its examination at the point where
Sir Frederick has dropped it. On the
fly-leaf are Italian quotations, references
to the claflic poets, and references tofub-
jefts in the book. Thefe prove that the
writer was a literary man and a claflical
fcholar. Taking up the references, and

turning

Stratford-upon-'Avon. 241

turning to the body of the work, we find
the margins annotated in feveral places,
and Montaigne's Latin quotations veri-
fied or corredted. Sometimes a wrong
author's name is given : if fb, the anno-
tations corred: the prefs. Sometimes a
quotation is given without the name of
the author : if fo, the annotation throws in
" Livy," "Virgil," or fome other claflical
name — fuch a book, fuch a line. We are
thus put beyond all doubt that the writer
was fome fcholar who had the claflical
poets, as we fay, at his fingers' ends. But
here comes the marvel of the matter.
Upon the edges of the leaves is printed
with pen and ink the name A. HALES.
Hales! Is it poflible that the con-
nexion of that name with Shakefpere
entirely efcaped the recoUedlion of Sir
Frederick Madden, and all other exami-
ners of the book ? Did no one remem-
ber the Poet's champion at Eton, who

242 New PlacCy

Lord Clarendon declared " was one of the
" leaft men in the kingdom, and one of
" the greateft fcholars in Europe." Sir
Frederick is perfedlly correal in ftating
that the orthography in the volume,
though not Shakefpere's, belongs to a date
of the Shakefperian age. When we link
together thefe fafts — that Mr. Hales, of
Eton, was the Poet's enthufiaftic ad-
mirer ; that he was a profound fcholar,
and therefore the very man who would
fupply the names of claflic authors to
quotations, and correct errors of reference
to them, or infcribe on a fly-leaf a parallel
paiTage from fome Italian poet ; that if
there was a fale of Shakefpere's goods and
chattels at New Place, his books would
be precifely the memorials of the man
which Mr. Hales would covet and pur-
chafe ; that a volume containing his
autograph would be a prize eagerly
fought and religioufly preferved; that

fuch

Stratford-upon-Avon. 243

fuch a work would be read and annotated
by Mr. Hales with the intenfeft pleafure;
and that the name " Hales" is aftually in-
fcribed upon the edges of the leaves, — it
does feem that a ftrong teftimony to the
value of the book has been overlooked,
and that a moft interefting piece of in-
ternal evidence as to its hiftoric value has
been unappreciated. It is true that it
falls fhort of abfolute proof; but the links
of the chain couple themfelves fo natu-
rally, and the probabilities are fo ftrongly
in favour of this book having belonged
to Mr. Hales, that if fuch evidence re-
commends itfelf to the minds of thofe
who read thefe pages, Florio's Mon-
taigne muft be regarded henceforth with
a heightened intereft ; andjuft as we re-
gard the book from having pafled into
the pofleflion of fuch a man as Mr.
Hales, muft its prefervation by him be
an additional teftimony — if fuch were

needed —

244 ^^'^ Place^

needed — in favour of the authenticity of
the autograph of Shakefpere.

Let Hales be ** ever-memorable," faid
Malone, becaufe of his defence of Shake-
fpere. Will he not deferve to be " ever-
" memorable," indeed, if it fliould prove
that to his love and reverence we are in-
debted for the prefervation of the only
known article of property that belonged
to Shakefpere ?

Thoroughly convinced of the genuine-
nefs of the autograph, and ftrongly
imprefled with the belief that after
Shakefpere*s death his goods and chattels
were fold, and that this book pafled into
the pofleflion of Mr. Hales, of Eton,
Florio's Montaigne is regarded by the
author as the folitary ^^ In memoriam''
of New Place. New Place is fwept
away; the great houfe has vanifhed; the
Poet's fword is loft ; the plate and jewels
are deftroyed or fold, or loft likewife ; the

broad

Stratford-upon-Avon, 245

broad filver-gilt bowl is — melted down
perhaps; but one treafure is fpared to
us, better than plate or jewels, becaufe it
is affociated with the Poet's play of the
Tempejif — becaufe it bears his autograph,
— becaufe, being a book, it is a memento
moft kindred to him who has given to
the world, fuperior to all other produfts
of the human intelledl, the Book of
books, — and becaufe, having belonged
to his library, we know how he muft
have valued it —

" Mey poor man ! my lilrary
IVds dukedom large enough.''

The attention of the reader has been
efpecially called to the name of " Charles
" Hales," as one of the commiflioners of
the inquifition for inquiry regarding the
eftate of Ambrofe, Earl of Warwick. It
will be obferved that in Shakefpere's time
a Charles Hales is connefted with Strat-
ford. Then a John Hales is peculiarly

interefted

246 New Place,

interefted in upholding the Poet's fat
and on a book bearing his autograph
name "A. Hales" is found inlcribed.

A vifit to Heralds' College, and a li
of the "Old Mortality" fpirit of mi
refearch in Canterbury, Warwick, \
Somerfet, gives us information of confid
able intereft, and feems to the author
add value to the folio of Montaig
The fadt is, the Hales family was o
nefted with Snitterfield, and one brai
of it was feated there both before \
after Shakefpere's time. This dift
guifhed flock, which yielded fb mj
fervants to the Crown in the high offi
of the law, belonged, ex ftirpe, to O
terbury, and may be traced as located
the Dane John, or Dungeon, of that d
at Hales Place, at Tenterden, and d
where. By reference to the append
Pedigree, it will be feen how the ym
defcents of this houfe became featfil

Cor-^

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 247

Coventry, at Newland near Coventry,
and at Snitterfield. John Hales (A) ac-
quired the celebrated Priory of Coventry,
which fingularly enough had been granted
by patent of Henry VIIL, dated 28th
July, 37th anno., to John Combes, Efq.,
and Richard Stansfield, their heirs, &c.
From them it pafled to this John Hales,
in the 1 5 th of Elizabeth. He died feifed
thereof, leaving it to John, his nephew
(B), fon of his brother Chriftopher, who,
it will be obferved, had married the
daughter of Lucy of Charlecote.

If the reader will glance over this
Pedigree, it will be obferved that the
Halefes, Lucys, and Combes became con-
ne6ted by marriages between their fami-
lies ; and it is of fome intereft to find that
fuch a magnificent monaftic ellabliih-
ment as the Priory of Coventry — magni-
ficent even in the wreck that remains of
it to the prefent time, converted as it is

to

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250 New Place J

accompanied Sir Dudley Carlton to the
Hague as his chaplain, and was admitted
to the Synod of Dort, with reference to
which he wrote his " Golden Remains."
His connection with the Synod gave
a ftrong Arminian turn to his opinions,
and, as he himfelf exprefled it, he " bid
" John Calvin good-night."

In February, 1619, John Hales re-
turned from the Synod, and took up his
refidence in England; but his peculiar
theological opinions rendered him ob-
noxious to Laud, who fummoned him
to a lengthened interview, in 1638, at
Lambeth Palace, when, by mutual expla-
nations. Laud and Hales became recon-
ciled, fo that a very fhort time afterwards
the Archbifliop, at a public dinner, pre-
fented Hales to a canonry at Windfor,
into which he was inftalled June 27>
1639, though in 1642 he was ejedcd
from the fame. About the time of

Laud's

Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 5 1

Laud's death, 1644, he retired from his
rooms in Eton College, and took up his
refidence in a private chamber in Eton,
where he concealed himfelf for a quarter
of a year, in order to preferve the College
books and keys, of which he was Burfar.
He lived upon bread and beer, and in
his concealment was fo near the College,
that he ufed to fay, " thofe who fearched
" for him might have fmelt him if he
" had eaten garlick." He refufed to
take the Covenant, and was confequently
regarded as a malignant, and ejected from
his fellowfliip at Eton. There are many
confli6ting ftories about his poverty, and
the dire neceflity in which he was com-
pelled to fell, for £700, a part of his
library to Cornelius Bee, a London book-
feller. This ftatement, however, obtains
weight from the confirmation of Dr.
Pearfon, who wrote the preface to
" Golden Remains.'*

John

John JrUksM]
was huried iA Eton Q
where a mofiumoit
memory by P. Cinr«i^ Wff^t
1765 an edition of hia wofJiiv
liihed, edited I7 Lord Haika. .,^j

The following fsMm/Sti §p^
tskcn SrotA the Eton Colll^
are interefting :— r.

'' I, John Halbs^ of Bton^ fte. ft«^|#|i
''of the small rernxoaOi^ol mjTp^w^
''estate in maimer and fiam
" give to mj nistet, Cicblt Conaaip j
" Moreover all my Greek and I«Mkl
"to my most deservedly bdoted iiiii!^^
" Salter of Bichlriiigs^ Bsq. > * . . ABi
" books, togetherinth thermudo(Skr i^i
" goods, and utennls whatsoever^ I .
" queathe to Mrs. Hannah XXdJoaaioga'^
" widow, relict of John Piokepsqi^l
" In whose house • • • I have for a]
" with great care and good xei^aoli
" and her Ido by these presetthii
" dain my sole executrix. • • • • ^i
''lordainthatat ihetimeof A»j
" afker my departure qi]r b^d^^

' : ' : ■ ' -■':U^^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 253

" Church-yard of the Town of Eton, ... in plain
" and simple manner, without any Sermon, or
" ringing of the Bell, or calling of the people
" together, without any unseasonable commessa-
" tion or compotation, ... for as in my life I have
" done the Church no service, so I will not that in
" my death the Church do me any honour."

It will be obferved in the above de-
tailed fafts, that John Hales had taken his
degree at Corpus Chrifti College thirteen
years before Shakefpere died, and that he
was a Fellow of Eton three years prior
to that event. Alfo, that — doubtlefs
owing to the family connection with
Snitterfield — Cicely Hales, his fifter, had
married into the family of Combe ; and
laftly, that John Hales's younger brother
was named Anthony Hales (C). When
we come to put all thefe fafts together,
there can be little doubt as to the origin
of John Hales's peculiarly ftrong intereft
in Shakefpere ; and the ink-printed name
A. HALES, on the edges of the leaves of

the

254 ^^'^ Place,

the copy of Montaigne, gives additional
value to that already moft valuable
volume ; becaufe we gather from that
name, and from the fcholarly comments
and notes in the book, that John Hales,
after Shakefpere's death, had poiTeffion of
this v^ork, — had annotated it w^ith his
own erudition, — and that from him the
book paiTed to the pofTeflion of his brother
Anthony ! It appears to the author that
this circumftantial evidence is as con-
vincing as any fuch evidence can be, fhort
of a politive entry on the fly-leaf to that
effeft. That the book fhould have re-
mained in families connected with War-
wickfhire, is moft natural ; and that it
fhould belong to a clergyman in the fame
neighbourhood in 1780, is precifely what
we fhould expecft. Let it be remem-
bered that Mr. Pattefon exhibited the
book to his friends as bearing the Poet's
fignature for no mercenary purpofe, and

with

Stratford-upon-Avon. 255

with no view of making a fale of it.
He valued it as it deferved, and facredly
preferved it. His fon was induced to
part with it to the Britifh Mufeum, be-
caufe it was urged on him that fuch a
book ought to be depofited in the Na-
tional library.

The reader, and particularly the anti-
quary, will pardon this lengthened diver-
fion regarding the " ever-memorable
" John " and his family ; for, believing,
as the author does, that the name A.
HALES has enticed him into a refearch
which he would otherwife have over-
looked, fo he believes it has furnifhed
additional evidence in fupport of Sir
Frederick Madden's paper, and — if fuch
were needed — confirmed the authenticity
of the autograph in the only remaining
book that belonged to the Poet.

Until faith can be driven by over-
powering proofs into the wildeft infidelity,

let

kft U8 ding to di^
graph is gemiiney aiid dliii
did bdong to our Skdce^iti.
laft plank, which BoatzM m
of iepandon that hm gpsm <
lor more than three hundned^
drift away 9 and leave us ut
der from the domeftic lifb^'i
we (hall ftill have, in two of tlbe?.
Halls of England, monumnis
be for ever aflbciated widi the
gloiy of the High Prieil of

A mile away fix>m the ibS
Shake^>ere charmed his Kh^^
Court, is the Vilk to whidi
chief interpreters, David Gatf^i^il
after leaving his profeflkou M iil
approaching a centuryfince hei
off this mortal coil! ltM$.-s$t
after Shakefpere's deaths lA
afRxuations conneded witl^^
have poiihed, or to hmih

V%-^-l'-'.'*i^4

Stratford' upon - Avon. 257

from Stratford! Not fo at Garrick's
Villa, when a whole century is well-nigh
complete fince his death. His Villa, his
garden, his river-fide pleafure-grounds,
his temple eredled to Shakefpere, re-
main as he left them. There is the
lawn fkirting the Thames, overhung
with noble trees, which Garrick fliowed
with delight to Dr. Johnfon, and re-
ceived from the Dodlor, as he furveyed
the beauty of the fcene, the moralifing
rejoinder, "Ah, David, thefe are the
" things that make Death terrible ! "*
There is the tunnel under the road, fug-
gefled by the Dodlor ;— " Well, David,
" if you cannot get over the road,
" try and get under it." There is the
drawing-room with the Chinefe-pat-

terned

* This anecdote was told me by the Rev. Kdward
Phillips, of Surbiton, to whofe family Garrick's Villa
now belongs. The (lory is allbciated with the place,
and is polhbly now publifhed for the firft time.

258

temed papenng^ the
fireplaces, the chairs and ^xfii^
he left them. There is W^
with its prefles, its furniture, ks
chintz hangings, ib long delayed
die Cuftoms, that David affiired i
jefty's officers Mrs. Garrickwte
her heart over their delay* C<
rick return to Hampton and
home to-morrow, he would
furniture and appointments, as if
only left it yeftcrday. The
tial fpirit in which this Villa
preferved, and the furniture of
drawing-room and bedroom
above dil praife. In the kpfei
through whatever hands the*;
may pafs, let us hope that*
come will find thefe diancibeflitj
as they are now, at the
firft century fince the gftti|i<l
death. But how painfill

-5^

Stratford'Upon-Avo?!. 259

between the confervative aftion exhibited
at Hampton, and the deplorable, nay,
wicked, neglecS, which prevailed at
Stratford !

A volume of fuch intereft and import-
ance as Montaigne's ** Eflays,'' pubhfhed
in 1603, is precifely the fort of work
which we fhould expedl to find on Shake-
fpere's bookfhelf. Florio's tranflation
recommends itfelf becaiife it is a tranjla-
tioriy fince it has been (atisfaftorily proved
to us that Shakcfpere's knowledge was
largely, if not entirely, gathered from
tranflations of Claffical, French, and Italian
authors ; and, moreover, — the characfler of
Montaigne's mind being peculiarly cal-
culated to intereft Shakefpere, — had the
volume in queftion bearing his autograph
not exifted, it might with fome confi-
dence be argued that a tranflation of fuch
a famous author, publiflied about 1603,
by a near relative of Ben Jonfon's, with

whom

26o New Placey

whom Shakefpere was probably per-
fonally familiar, would be precifely the
fort of book of which the Poet would
polfefs himfclf, and in which we fhould
expedl to find his autograph. Let a
catalogue of all the books publifhed in
or about that date be placed before any
one familiar with Shakefpere's caft of
mind, and it may be aflerted, without
fear of contradiction, that were he about
to make a purchafe out of the lot, one
of the firft he would felefl: would be
Montaigne.

Here, at the thrcfhold, our curiofity to
learn fomething of the favourite books
which the Poet may have had about
him is cut fliort. We know nothing of
the fources of his learning beyond fuch
internal evidence as his plays and poems
afford. If they carry us over the
threfliold, they take us no further. They
favour us with no glimpfe of the fanc-

tum—

Stratford-upon-Avon. 26 1

turn — of the reading-ftand, the work-
table, the inkhorn, or the book-prefs.
What early advantages Shakefpere pof-
fefled — whether from the fchool " i' the
*^ church," or other fources — continue a
profound myftery up to this time; though
there yet remain quarters for inquiry
where fome information might be ga-
thered. The earlicft reliable evidence of
Shakeipere's being in London dates in
1589, when he was twenty-five years of
age. It is poflible he may have been con-
nefted with London for a year or two
previoufly, but certainly not longer. Until
he was twenty-three or four he refided
at Stratford ; and this fad: fupports the
opinion that it was in Stratford the
whole groundwork of his knowledge
was obtained, as it was in Stratford, in
later life, that the greateft achievements
of his genius were accomplifhed. Imagi-
nation alone can aid us to pidlure him at

New

262 New Placey

New Place when he was comparatively
wealthy, able to purchafe property and
tythcs in Old Stratford, Welcombe, and
Bifhopton, and to carry on profitable
tranfadions in corn or wool. In his
home he had but one child, Judith, who
remained unmarried until the year pre-
vious to his death ! Poor Hamnet, her
twin-brother, died the year before they
moved into New Place ! Mrs. Shakelpere
and this daughter were his conftant com-
panions. His other daughter and her
hulband, Dr. Hall, lived hard by, and
had made a grandfather of him when
he was only forty-four years of age. A
grandfather ! when many Engliflimen, as
Johnfon exprefled it, *' having liilked
*^ with the dogs," are only beginning to
think about marriage, now-a-days !

The glimpfes we catch of him as he 1
palTcd along the laft ftage of his life are
very few, and fcarcely take us into his ,

home. I

The Axciext Chalice and Paten oi Bisuopt

From ivhich ShaKESPERE li ju'id to hai-e rccchcd the ILly

(It «*ill he observed that the lul of the Chalice, \vh
inverted, forms the Paten, upon the top ot which
is enfjraved the date, 1571).

Stratford-upon-Avon. 263

home. Bufinefs tranfaftions connefted
with his purchafes at Stratford or in
London; the poffeflion of corn; a vifit to
London in 16 14 to oppofe the enclofure
of lands at Stratford, — thefe and a few
other fails of a like charaifter are all the in-
formation regarding him that has reached
us. There is infinitely more fatisfacflion
in mufingover a couple of lines in Rowe's
Life, becaufe their ftatement depends upon
Betterton's inquiries, made at Stratford a
few years after Shakefpere's death. He
fpent his later days " in eafe, retirement,
** and the converfation of his friends."

The words may be applied to the laft
years both of Shakefpere and of Milton.
In retirement and (poor though Milton
was) at eafe, and enjoying the conver-
fation of their friends, their countrymen
muft love to contemplate England's moft
illuftrious fons— the Epic and Dramatic
Laureates of the Saxon tongue. Of the

domeftic

264 New Placcy

domeftic fcene at Bunhill Fields we know
enough to be enabled to pifture it. We
even know that Milton enjoyed his even-
ing pipe while joining in the firefide talk.
We know his daily habits ; his hours of
ftudy; his writings in London and at
Chalfont. It is polTible that Milton, in
that year 1614, when Shakefpere was in
town, may have feen him pafs down
Bread Street, Cheapfide, to the " Mer-
" maid Tavern," — that patriarch of
London Chibs — there to enjoy a ftoup
of liquor and a jeft with rare Ben Jon-
fon. And yet, while a mafs of the moft
intercfting information exifts regarding
tlie life of the younger of thefe poets, who
were actually contemporaneous, nothing
furvives to admit us into the home and
fociety of him who Milton calls ** our
" w^ondcr and aftonifliment " —

" Di'dr fitn of nwmoryy great heir of fame,**

There are two circumftances connected

with

Stratford-upon-Avon. 265

with his laft days at New Place with
which we are acquainted. " In perfed:
" health and memory, God be praifed,"
he had his Will drafted 25th January,
161 6. February loth, his daughter
Judith married Thomas Quiney. We
are led to conclude that the Will was
probably drawn up in January with refer-
ence to his daughter's marriage ; and that
fubfequent to the wedding, Shakcfpcre
was feized with fome fuddcn illnefs,
which led to the execution of the Will
on the 25th day of March. Thefe few
fafts, occurring in the firfl: three months
of the year 161 6, conftitute the entire
knowledge we poiTefs of the clofing days
of Shakefpere's life. Forty years after
his death, the then vicar of Stratford,
Mr. Ward, jotted down fome of the
ftories current in the place regarding
the Poet. Among others, he ftated,
" Shakefpear, Drayton, and Ben Jhonfon

"had

266 New Placey

" had a merry meeting, and, itt feems,
" drank too hard, for Skakefpear died of
" a feavour there contradled."

When we remember that Shakelpere
died in the prime of Yif^y and that he
was in perfect health and memoiy twelve
weeks prior to his deceafe, it feems likely
enough that fever was the caufe of death.
The wedding of Judith would perfed:ly
account for Ben Jonfon and Drayton
being his companions at Stratford at fuch
a time, though no evidence has as yet
been produced to prove Jonfon's where-
about at that date. The ftory of drinking
too hard is fufceptible of explanation in
the fame way ; and it is eafy to be under-
ftood how the conviviality of a wedding
party at New Place would be converted,
on the tongues of goflips, into " hard
" drinking at a merry meeting.'* Village
ftories and traditions, as it has been
already admitted, are worthy of con-

fideration

Stratford-upGfi''A'i:on. 267

lideration, but not of truft. They are
feldom abfolutely true in themfelves, and
yet they almoft always direft the hiftoric
inquirer in the right direction to arrive at
truth. Traditions are Hke photographs
— diftorting the prominent features of
the fubjefts they reprefent. Accepting
the reverend vicar's ftory as a Stratford
tradition, told him in the rough-and-
ready phrafeology of the place, and tran-
flating the meaning of " hard drinking "
into the joyous feftivity which would be
naturally obferved at fuch a period as the
wedding of the Poet's daughter, when
friends like Ben Jonfon and Drayton
were gathered around the board of their
old companion, to drink to the health and
happinefs of the bride and bridegroom, —
we have a domeftic pifture prefented
to us of the laft days of Shakefpere, as
happy in itfelf as it is probable from its
confonance with his charadter.

Though

268 New Pldcey

Though the picture is the bareft fketch,
yet its touches are true to nature ; and all,
fave one, we know to be true in fa6t. That
one, (the coarfenefs of its colouring toned
down), harmonifes well with the reft, and
gives completenefs to the outhnes. Let
fancy fill in the canvas, and the autumn
days of the Poet's life be painted in the
golden tints of nature's own autumn time,
in which funninefs and fadnefs fo myf-
terioufly blend. Pleafant it is to think
that the happinefs of New Place was not
lliadowed by any tedious or agonifing
ficknefs. There was no lingering difeafe,
no protracted pain. *' In perfed: health
" and memory, God be praifed," our
Shakefpere lived until his fifty-fecond
year. He enjoyed his Merry Chriftmas,
and the converfation of his friends. Then
came the preparations for the wedding.
New Place was all alive. Mrs. Shake-
fpere's fecond-beft bed, like enough, was

aired

Stratford- upon- Avon. 269

aired and made up for the arrival
from town of Ben Jonfon. Shakefpere
thought the time befitted that he fhould
make his Will, which was accordingly
drafted. The great garden w-as neatly
trimmed, no doubt, and the borders of
fnowdrops and crocufes fringed the beds
about the mulberry tree. The wedding-
day arrived. Parfon Rogers, the vicar,
appeared in his befl: caffock, bands, and
tippet; and robed in clean white linen
furplice, leaned against the tomb of John
a Combe, book in hand, until the wed-
ding party came. Coaches in Stratford
were unknown ; but

'* Slowly — stately — tiro by two,''

the train of relatives and friends pro-
ceeded from New Place to the church.
The merry marriage-bells rang out their
welcome, and William Shakelpere, lead-
ing Judith through troops of friends,

prefented

270 New P/acey

prefented her at the altar to the vicar,
and gave the woman to the man.

There were no fignatures of witnefTes to
the ceremony neceflary, elfe had we feen,
perchance, Shakefpere's and Rare Ben's
upon the lame page of the Regifter.

The ceremony over, and the vicar un-
robed, the whole party left the church.
It was the laft time Shakefpere entered
it alive, and the laft time he left it ! The
wedding of his child brought him there
that day : about nine weeks afterwards his
children attended in the fame place at his
funeral ! But on that marriage morn
none dreamt of, or anticipated, the im-
pending lofs which not New Place only,
or Stratford, but England and her litera-
ture, were to fuffer. The marriage tables
were fpread ; the cakes and ale were plen-
tiful ; and Parfon Rogers, garnifhing his
periods with Latinity, after the fafhion of
his day, told how one of old time, in a

little

2/2 Ne-iv P/ace,

" J1\'lrn}}u\ gentlemen ! Indies that have their toes
Un plagued with corns will have a lout with you : —
//// ally niif jnijireffes ! which of you all
in II now deny to dance? ....

/ havefien the day

That I could tell

A whif /wring tale in a fair lady\s ear.

Such as would pi cafe ! — ^tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone.

Come, muficians, play.

A hall ! a hall ! give room, and foot it, girls.
More light, ye knaves! and turn the tables up,
And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot. —
Xai/,Jit, naif, ft, good Cou/in Capulet,
For you and 1 are pnft our dancing days ! '*

So, while they went on with the dance,
and joy was unconfined, we can imagine
thefe patres confcripti of Stratford, ga-
thering together in a knot, and the
"natural wit" of Shakefpere, goaded into
point and brilliancy by Ben and Drayton,
burfiiing forth into corrufcations of fancy!
Then the reminifcenfes of London life, of
Blackfriars and the Globe, would come
up, and the experiences of thefe wits
would aftonirti and delight their country
friends. Shakefpere could tell many an
anecdote of kings and courts, of Whitehall

and

Stratford'Upon-Avo?!. 273

and Hampton ; and, perhaps, among the
jovial pledges of the fupper, Ben Jonfon
might let flip fomething about Gunpow-
der Plot. Such a " merry-meeting '* —
the celebration of his daughter's wedding-
day — we have fufficient reafon for fup-
pofing, prefents us to Shakefpere at New
Place, in health and vigour, for the laft
time. A fever feized him. A few brief
days of licknefs intervened. Gradually
the flrength of the hale man fuccumbed
before the invading enemy. Neceflity
compelled the Will to be figned. Gloom
poflefled the lately happy, feftive, houfe.
At Chapel Street corner, with whifpered
words and folemn head-lhaking, the
friends of the dying man told their
worft fears. Then there was another
gathering! In Holy Crofs, moil like,
the Church's prayers were heard for
him who lay a-dying. By his bedfide
Vicar Rogers would ftand, calming the

woes

274 iV^iii; Placcy

woes of the living, and pointing to the
hopes of the dying ; while gradually —
but painlelTly as fever does its work — the
lad enemy flole in among the group, and
the windows of New Place were dark-
ened, and the doors were ihut, and the
keepers of the houfe trembled, and the
mourners went about the ftreet, becaufe
man goeth to his long home ! " The
'' reft is filence ! "

^^-LjC^iCP"^/

'^-^t«^'^

As

Stratford-upon-Avon. 275

As regards the identification of Shake-
fpere's refidence, there is a popular error.
Many writers, and even fome of the
lateft, aflert that the Sir Hugh Clopton
who fucceeded to New Place in 171 9,
" repaired and beautified it, and built a
" modern front to it."

This ftatement is repeated in numerous
works down to the prefent day. It is not
a mere error ; it is more than an error,
for it is totally untrue. The evil refulting
from it is, that defcribers of New Place,
whofe works are efpecially read by vifitors
to Stratford, have betrayed the public into
a very undeferved amount of regret for the
deftrudlion of the Rev. Francis Gaftreirs
houfe, in 1759; that being the houfe to

which

"* C' iV '

*7^

which a f^modearn
to have been added; (^e^
of Sir Hugh Cloptciahe»ig ^
it» juft as the mcmdlk^ 23£^ lie^^
endoied within that pondercnn (lllp^
pile on the banks of the TbaiaQi^ri^^
looks like a ''Union'' outfide» 4^^
decorated as an Italian V3k iD^|^
Thoufands of perfims have
Gaftrell's deftradiveneis^ caring jSM^b|||A^
for the ''modem froni^' but ^^jf^ppl
over the antique infeerior» whwe
ipere was fuppofed to have lived miy^il;;
It is deiirable that the publk: ili^iid^^
iet right concerning diis mill|^.
underftandy that, about the ynr
Sir Hugh Clopton utteify
fabric which another Sir Hu£|i
about the year 1490, had ci^^lb^ij
not a ''modem fron^'' bu^^
new houicy which ynB^i
1720; and it was this

1:

•■'■JSS

iJa^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 277

Dutch William or Queen Anne's ftyle
of building) which, devoid of all hiftorical
aflbciation, the ruthlefs Gaftrell razed to
the ground.*

Rcprefentations of this houfe are ex-
tant. They only need to be examined,
and the eye learns inftantly that a com-
plete rebuilding, and not a " modern
"fronting,*' muft have occurred in or
about 1720.

Upon the ground-floor the hall door
occupied the centre, flanked right and
left with three windows.

On the firfli-floor a row of (twtn win-
dows were difplayed, the central one
opening into a fmall balcony. The three
centre windows and the doorway, flightly
projecting, were furmounted by a pedi-
ment, containing the creft and motto of
the Cloptons, ^^Loyavte Mon. Honnevr/'
in the tympanum.

The

* Appendix K.

The middle «f^
with; a fquare plttforni^
wooden baluftrad^ as
honies of the period,
worky in long and (faoit 1
the comers of thehodtt^wM^i
Claffic cornice^ with dei^^>
gave a fini(h to the roof^ <^<
page this houie is rq>i
Mr. Garrick and his friend.
tained at the time of di#
1769, -

It was what au^onoef«^Si#i
tial fiunily manfion, y&f
flat» very red, and in its ftit«<
with wooden baluftrades,
die %le of ftrudures dc]i|
King of pious and immoftfll^

About Kenfii^;ton^
'Hammerfinithy any nuitdbtm
" refidences," built at ABi
be fcen, generally

Stratford-upon-Avon. 279

giate fchools, or Claflical and Commer-
cial academies.

However ponderous, raw, and felf-
aflerting the architedlure of that period
may be, let it be confefTed that it is in-
finitely grander, more ftately, and more
real than that pretentious ftyle now pre-
valent in London, in which " whatever is,
^*is not," and a muddy ftucco is falved
over the carcafes of houfes to make them
look what they are not — fubftantial.

The name of the Rev. Francis Gaftrell
was execrated in Stratford. He com-
mitted great offences againft the town.
This perfon appears to have been the fon
of Dr. Gaftrell, Biftiop of Cheftcr, and to
have held the living of Frodftiam, in the
diocefe of Chefter.

He married Jane, the daughter of Sir
Thomas Afton, Bart., whofe family was
feated at Afton, in Cheftiire. At Stow
Houfe, Stow, a fuburb of Lichfield, about

half

hatfamile W^^
lived Elizabeth A^lofit,
Gaftrell/an4 ^ ift nd^
when arrived at a mttii^ i
defignated ^^ Nbs. A^im.^ ^ ^i ;t^

Subiequently to the Revi:
death, his widow lived oa SBQfll^l
honie adjoining her Mei^a.. ' *r fv j

Letters addreiled by Dr^/^
this lady are given in BohnJI^i
alfb feveral to Mrs« Afton.
diefe ladies Johnibn h^d faeei
acquainted from his eadieft
the intimacy contuiued Otttflrj
his death. The fbl^ywiof 4
from one of his letters .fli
reader iufficicnt evidence of.
which Johnfon lived with \

"Bolt Comx^ Fkrt#1

"Dbaa Maoam,

"Now the New Year b oooM^lii^
"and dear Mis. Gaftrell mangr aaiii
"fit that I give 70U (bme aoooo^i

V^'^t^^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 8 1

" In the beginning of it I had a difficuhy of breathing,
** and other illnefs, from which, however, I by degrees
'* recovered, and from which I am now tolerably free. . .
'* But the other day Mr. Prujean called and left word
** that you, dear madam, are grown better j and 1 know
*' not when I heard anything that plenfed me fo much.
** I Ihall now long more and more to fee Lichfield, and
'* partake the happinefs of your recovery. Now you
" begin to mend, you have great encouragement to take
" care of yourfelf.

** Do not omit anything that ran conduce to your
" heahh, and when I come I Ihall hope to enjoy with
"you and dearell Mrs. Galirell many pleafing hours.

" Do not be angry at my longomiliion to write," &c.
&c. &c.

" Madam,
** Your moll humble fervant,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

There is an old man, by name Mr.
Thomas Barnes, now Hving in Bird
Street, Lichfield, who has entered his
ninety-firft year. He was born at Chorley,
near Lichfield, the firfl week in February,
1772. He was brought up a wig-maker,
and may be faid to have followed his
trade up to the prefent time. Mr. Barnes
is in the enjoyment of all his faculties,
able to garden, and while gardening to
recur with the greatefl clearnefs of

memory

282 New PlacCy

memory to the events of his early life.
He is perhaps the only perfon living who
can fay that he remembers Dr. Johnfon.
Mr. Barnes informed the author that he
clearly recolledls Mrs. Afton and Mrs.
Gaftrell living at Stow ; and that he re-
members feeing the Dodlor walking with
thefe ladies in Boar Street, Lichfield, op-
pofite the Town Hall. Mr. Barnes was
alfo well acquainted with Mr. Peter
Garrick, brother of the tragedian, whole
houfe was fituate in Lichfield, on the
fite now occupied by the newly-eredted
Literary Inftitution and Probate Office.

Mr. Barnes had no perfonal acquaint-
ance with Dodlor Johnfon or his female
friends, Mrs. Afton and Mrs. Gaftrell,
for whom, it is beyond queftion, the
Dodlor entertained the warmeft and moft
fincere friendlinefs of feeling.

In glancing round the walls of Lich-
field Cathedral, on the north fide of the

great

Stratford-upon-Avon. 283

great weft door in the nave, and above
the door of the fouthern tranfept, there
ftill ftand tablets to the memory of Mrs.
Afton and Mrs. Gaftrell. ^^ Still/' be-
caufe it would be well, for the fake of the
architedlure, if thofe unfightly and un-
harmonious lumps of mafonry had been
removed, in the late elaborate reftorations
at Lichfield, to fome lefs confpicuous
pofitions. Lichfield Cathedral, as it now
appears, will be contemplated for genera-
tions to come as a monument whereby
to recall the Epifcopate of Dr. Lonfdale.
The lover of church architecture will
ponder over and revel in the regenerated
lovelinefs of that exquifite gem of art;
and in admiration of the fpirit and muni-
ficence with which the clergy and gentry
of the diocefe have gathered round their
venerated Diocefan, in carrying out the
glorious work which has been accom-
pliflied, contraft it painfully with fome of

its

284 New Placcy

its fifter edifices, where Cathedral bodies
are much richer, and far more able, but
apparently much lefs willing, to encounter
the facrifices neceflary for much-needed
reftorations. To wit — look at Durham,
a Golden See ! That monarch of all
Norman piles is ftill disfigured with filthy
white-wafh and yellow-wafli. The con-
dition of its nave is a difgrace to any
Cathedral chapter; and, as if to prove that
ecclefiaflical barbarians ftill furvive, thofe
ftupendous pillars — the glory of the
Palatinate — have very lately beea out-
raged by having gliftening lead gas-pipes
nailed to their fides, furmounted with
fittings and fhades of the commoneft and
moft vulgar defcription !

As it will be neceflary to fay a few
words refpedting Mrs. Gaftrell with re-
gard to the deftrudiion of the mulberry-
tree, it may be the moft chivalric if we
anticipate her blame by founding her

praife,

Stratford'Upon-A'VGn. 285

praife, and adminiiter the antidote before
the bane. The following infcription on
her monument in Lichfield Cathedral is
a grandiofe fpecimen of teftamentary
gratitude : —

"J. G. died October 30, 1791, aged 81.

*' Sacred to the memory of Jane, daughter of Sir
" Thomas Alton, of Afton, Baronet, and widow of the
" Rev. Francis Gaftrell, Clerk, who, to the lafl moments
" of her life, was conllantly employed in atts of ll'cret
" and extenfive charity, and on her death bequeathed
** to numerous benevolent inllitutions a coniiderable
*' portion of her property. This monument was ere«^ted
" by her five nephews and three nieces, who partook
" equally and amply of her bounty.

*' Let not thy alms, the holy Jesus cried,
Befetn of men, or dealt with conjcious pride ;
Sojhall the Lord, whofe eye pervades the breaji.
For thee unfold the manfions of the ble/i,

" O'er her whofe life this precept held in view,
A friend to want, when each falfe friend withdrew ;
Alay thefe chafte lines, to genuine worth aj/ign'd.
Pour the full tribute of a grateful mind.

"Sweet as at noontide s fultry beam, thefJiower,
That fieals refr(fhing o\'r the withered Jiowei',
Her filent aid, by foothing pity givn.
Sank through the heart, the dew of gracious heaven,

" Deeds fuch as thefe, purefliade,Jhall ei^er bloom.
Shall live through time and glow beyond the tomb.
Through thee, the orphan owes parental care.
Bends the glad knee, and breathes the frequent prayer ;

Through

286 New Place,

Through thee the deb tor , from defpojidencc fled,
C/afps his fond labcSy and hails his native fhed ;
Through thee, thejiave, unbound his majjtvc chain,
Shouts with neu\joy, and lives a man again;
Through thee, the Java ge on a dijiant fhore
His Saviour hears, and droops with doubt no more.

" O thou who lingering here, /halt heave thejigh.
The warm tear trembling on thy penfive eye,
Go, and the couch of hopelcfs forrow tend.
The poor man*s guardian, and the widow's friend ;
Go, and the path which Aston lately trod^
Shall guide thy foot (ieps to the throne of God.**

The Rev. Francis Gaftrell appears to
have had a great defire to acquire property
in, and alfo about, Stratford. It does not
feem that he intended to make New
Place a permanent refidence, but merely
a temporary retreat for pleafure and
repofe. In his garden flood " Shakefpere's
" Mulberry-tree," which all vifitors to
Stratford were curious to fee and fit
under. Mr. Gaftrell's temper was forely
tried by the perpetual invafions of thefe
vifitors, and in his fpleen he fent forth the
fiat to cut it down — " with Gothic bar-
" barity," as Bofwell remarks. Dr. John-

fon

Stratford'Upo?!' Avon. 287

fon told him Mr. Gaftrell did fo *' to vex
" his neighbours." Bofwell adds, " His
"lady, I have reafon to believe, on the
**fame authority^ participated in the guilt
" of what the enthufiafts of our immortal
" bard deem almoft a fpecies of facrilege."
This facrilege took place in 1756, only-
three years after Gaftrell became pofTefTor
of New Place.

The wood of the mulberr}^-tree was
purchafed by Thomas Sharp, of Stratford,
watch and clock maker, who manufac-
tured it into boxes, goblets, and a variety
of articles for fale. Twelve rings made
out of the wood were manufadlured for
the Jubilee, 1769. A few valuable
mementoes ftill remain, highly prized, and
carefully treafured.

Among thefe, the Shakefpere chair now
in the pofleflion of Mifs Burdett Coutts,
and purchafed by her for £300, is the
moft valuable. The medallion on the

back

288 New Place J

back of this chair was carved by William
Hogarth.

There is the mulberry cup, which was
ufed by Mr. Garrick, and held in his hand
when he fang his own fong at Stratford :

" Behold this fair gollcty 'tiras carved from the tree^
IFkichy O my fweet Shake/ pere, was planted by thee!
As a relic I hifs it, and bow at thejhrine.
If 'hat comes from thy hand mnft be ever divine:
Alljhall yield to the mulberry-tree.
Bend to thee,
^ Bleft mulberry :
Matchlefs was he,
irho planted thee,
And thou, like him, immortal be!*'
Etc, etc*

W. O. Hunt, Efq., Town-clerk of
Stratford, pofTelles a drawing-room table

made

* I'he following receipt for the fale of mulberry-
tree u ood to Garrick is interelling : —

" c^th July, 1762.

" Received of David Garrick, Esq., by the hands
"of Lieutenant Eufebius Silvefter, Two Guineas iu
** full for four |)ieces of Mull-berry tree, which, with
" the other j)iece.s of the fame tree, I lately delivered
" to the faid Mr. Silveilt^r for the ule of the faid Mr.
" Garrick, I do hereby warrant to be part of the

" Mulberry

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 289

made of walnut, the top of which is
beautifully inlaid with wood from the
mulberry-tree. The device is unufual,
being formed by a feries of thin rounds,
into which a branch of the tree muft have
been fawn. A block of wood occupies
the centre of the table, the rounds
encircle it, and fucceflive circles con-
tinue being defcribed, until they reach
the exterior frame of walnut within
which they are comprehended. The
heart of the tree, and the varying rings of
the wood, being (ttn in every round, a
piece of furniture has been manufaftured
which is artiftic as a fpecimen of geome-
trical

"Mulberry Tree commonly called Shakefpeare's tree :
"and (aid to be planted by him j and lately cut down
"in the Rev. Mr. Gallrell's, late Sir Hugh Clopton's,
"garden, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

" Jl^itmfs my hand-^GEO. WILLES.

" IFitnefs hereto —

Wm. Hunt, Attorney in Stratford,

John Payton, Alajier of the White Lion there*'

290 New Place J

trical cabinet-making, and invaluable in
its hiflorical aflbciations. This table be-
longs to a gentleman who beft deferves to
poflcfs it, both on account of the un-
flagging enthufiafm he has exhibited
in everything that has reference to
Shakefpere (elpecially of late in fecuring
New Place to the public) ; and alfo on
account of the urbanity he has fhown
vifitors to Stratford, who have had the
honour of being introduced to him.

In 1759 what was thought a greater,
but was in reality a minor offence, was
committed. Being compelled to pay the
affeffment for the poor at Stratford, as well
as at Lichfield, his fixed refidence, Gaftrell
vowed that New Place fliould never be
affefied again, and pulled it down.

This has been regarded as an unpardon-
able crime. It was not fo in reality, be-
caufe the houfe had no connection with
the Poet, as has been fhown. There can

be

Stratford-upon-Avon. 291

be litde doubt that had Homer, Dante,
Taflb, and Shakefpere all lived in that
felfsame houfe it would have mattered
nothing to the Rev. Mr. Gaftrell. He
would have deftroyed it, whatever had
been its aflbciations.

Even among clergymen, particularly
the perverfe and obftinate, paflion often
dominates veneration.

The Rev. Francis GaftrelPs difpofition
is a ftudy; but it is one which cannot be
now purfued. It may be allowable, how-
ever, to hint, that inquiry may juftify
Johnfon's communication to Bofwell.
Mrs. Gaftrell polTibly did more than
" participate in the guilt ; *' and in the
murder done upon the mulberry-tree it
may hereafter appear that ftie was the
Lady Macbeth, inftigating the reverend
Thane to deeds of " Gothic barbarity."

A Diary written in Scotland by Mr.
Gaftrell has lately been prefented (among

other

292 New Place^

other gifts) to the embryo, ** Stratford
" Mufuem." Hereafter the public will
have accefs to this hitherto private MS.
It tells nothing of Stratford ; but being a
diary, it reveals fomething of the ftyle of
thought of the man. A very common-
place and unpoetic ftyle of thought it is,
but harmonious with what we fhould
conceive fuch a man would be. It may
not be gallant to the fair fex, but never-
thelefs fomething near the truth, to con-
jedlure that Mr. Gaftrell has been abufed
over much : that, as in all great crimes, fo
in the mulberry-tree flaughter, " there was
" a woman in it," aiding, abetting, and,
as Johnfon fays, "participating in the
" guilt." Malone, in writing to Dr.
Davenport, of Stratford, May, 1788,
quotes a letter received from a lady at
Lichfield, who aflerts that it was Mrs.
Gaftrell, and not her huft)and, who cut
down the mulberry-tree. In the fame

letter

Stratford-upon-Avon. 293

letter, Malone's correfpondent gives him a
hiftory of Mrs. Gaftrell's lateft perform-
ance at Lichfield. Her houfe on Stow
Hill had been let to a lady at the rental
of £100. The lady had been very kind
to the poor in the neighbourhood. Mrs.
Gaftrell having had fome disagreement
with her tenant, took meafures to turn her
out, and determined that the poor floould
derive no benefit from that houfe again^
which file refolved (hould remain empty.
Malone's correfpondent, in great wrath,
fays, that Mrs. Gaftrell is ''little better
" than a fiend."

In this report there is a coincidence
that cannot efcape obfervation. The fame
feeling which prompted the deftruction of
the houfe at Stratford, in order that it
might never again be affefTed for the
relief of the poor, likewife prompted the
clofing of the houfe at Stow Hill, Lich-
field, that the poor might derive no

further

294 A^^'Z£^ Place J

further afliftance from thence. It is
hardly poflible to refift: the conclufion
which the peculiarity of thefe circum-
flances fuggefts ; and delpite Johnfon's
friendly regard for Mrs. Gaftrell, we
muft remember that it is from his own
lips we hear of that lady's participa-
tion in her hufband's afts. She was
undoubtedly a paflionate and imperious
woman ; and if the whole truth were
known, it feems very probable that the
inftigation to the adl, if not the carrying
it into execution, both in felling the tree
and deftroying the houfe, is attributable
rather to Mrs., than to Mr., Gaftrell.

It has been difcovered that there was
a Chancery Suit pending between Mr.
Gaftrell and the Corporation, ftrengthen-
ing a fufpicion that hot blood was roufed.
The public at this moment knows
little of the merits of the Gaftrell cafe,
or the amount of provocation under

which

Stratford-upon-Avon. 295

which that irrafcible divine fuffered. If
all the charges againft him regarding the
deftruftion of the mulberry tree were
proved, and he were found guilty as the
real criminal, neverthelefs he cannot be
found guilty, as he commonly has been,
of deftroying Shakefpere's houfe, — fimply
becaufe Shakefpere's houfe did not exift
for him to deftroy.

From thefe fafts above ground, we
now deicend to difcoveries recently made
below ground.

During the fpring of 1862, that
portion of the garden of New Place
fronting the main ftreet. Chapel Street,
on the weft, and bounded by Chapel
Lane on the fouth, was excavated to
the extent of about (ixty feet fquare.
The workmen, having cleared away the

foil

296 New Place J

foil and debris over this large fpace to
the depth of eight or ten feet, came
upon a feries of foundations. Some very
interefting fadls have been difcovered.
The leading and moft manifeft are, that
two fets of foundations exift. The one
muft be thofe of the manfion built in the
Georgian era, circa 1720; the other
thofe of Shakefpere's own houfe — the
" Great Houfe" which Sir Hugh built
circa 1490, and in which both he and
the Poet " lived and died." Upon this
fite there never have been more than the
two houfes in queflion. For the fake of
diftinftion, let thefe houfes be defignated
refpeftively, the ** Great Houfe" and
the " Clopton Houfe."

It is eafy to diftinguifh the foundations
of the one from the other, becaufe the
lines of walls in the Clopton Houfe at
certain points meet, and interfedl the
walls of the Great Houfe (efpecially in the

foundations

Stratford-upon-Avon. 297

foundations abutting on Chapel Lane).
Where they fo meet and interfedt, the
Clopton foundations are built over and
acrofs thofe of the Great Houfe.

Again : the materials of the Great Houfe
are for the moft part ftone, which fuch
foundations — built nearly 400 years ago —
commonly were. The materials of the
Clopton Houfe are red brick, and in
many places the plafter upon the walls
of the offices in the bafement is ftill
perfedt ; and not only perfeft, but fhows
the coloured outline of the ftaircafe,
leading from the offices up to the firft-
floor, as clean and black as if it had been
painted yefterday.

Various evidences prove the date of
this portion of the foundations.

Firft. The bricks of which the party-
walls are built have that bright red
colour, and are fet together with that
peculiar clofenefs and fliarpnefs of edge,

which

298 New Place^

which particularly charafterife the period
of William, Anne, and George I.

Secondly. The condition of the plafter
and painting fhows that they belong to a
houfe which muft have been inhabited at
a comparatively recent period.

Thirdly. The evidences of habitation
revealed in the Clop ton foundations prove
that they were portions of Gaftrell's
houfe, and verify the ftory of its fudden
deftruftion. The kitchen fire-place was
found quite perfeft, and the afh-pit filled
with the cinders of the coals that may
have cooked Mr. GaftreU's dinner in
Stratford the day before he demoliflied
the houfe. A great variety of trifling
domeftic evidences of this fort abound,
fhowing that thefe ** Clopton " founda-
tions are the bafement ftory of a houfe
of modern ufe, and that the houfe itfelf
muft have been eredted during the laft
century.

Laft

Stratford-upon-Avon. '299

Laft of all, the ground above thefe
foundations when dug out proved to be
a debris of plafter-of- Paris mouldings,
cornices, and decorations belonging to
the ftyle of ornament commonly intro-
duced in the houfes of the reigns of
Anne and the firft Georges. When the
walls of the houfe were knocked down,
this plafter work was buried in the ruins ;
but it is now carefully arranged in an
adjoining houfe for infpedlion.

There cannot be a doubt about the
foundations of the Clopton Houfe (1720)
being identified.

From them we turn to the much
fmaller but far more interefting remains
of the Great Houfe.

It is evident that the Great Houfe was
not reftored with a ** modern front,"
becaufe there are two diftindt ground
plans ; and the Clopton Houfe founda-
tions (as already ftated) run aflcew to thofe

of

m

joo

Mf^i^^''

of the Gre«t

at veiy acute ani^ ^It
diat in laying die waB«/iiC ^
Houfe a great portioii dT di«j
of the Great Honle vmm dkm^i
entirdy^ and that thofe <mfy WSH
untouched which there ym no;
to move. Coi^equentty the
of the Great Houfe in wfakb^^
fpere lived are compttatiTd^
extent
The following fads are
Firft. In two iepar9t» pkim>
mullions have been diicoy«^>
the Clopton foundaticmSt *
fbme of the material dT: :iitHi^
Houie was cleared out #lǤ:i
in laying the external
modem one.

Secondly. « In that
Clopton foundations H
and offices ftood, die

..t^jjfc

KEY TO THE PLAN

FOUNDATIONS: GREAT HOUSE AND
CLOPTON HOUSE.

. Ancient Well of the Great Houfe.

Well, lately clUcovered, which appears to have
belonged to Nalh's Houie.

, Kitchen Fire-place.

. Piece of projedting Ancient Wall, belonging to
Shakefpere's, i.e. the Great Houfe ; conjectured
to be the Foundation of the P2ntrance Porchway.

The External Wall of the Ancient Great Houfe,
terminating in N, a Fire-place of the Clopton
Houfe.

The Site of Nafti's Houfe : with Ancient Foun-
dations.

. The Crown of the Vaulting depofited in one of
the Offices.

. The Pofition at which the Ancient Mullions have
been built into the Clopton Foundations.

K, L, M. Cellar Windows in the Clopton Foun-
dations.

'. Fire-place in one of the Offices of ditto.

. Ditto.

m

Stratford-upon-Avon. 301

traces of ancient walls, although it is
almofl certain that the Great Houfe en-
tirely covered this fite, fince the frontage
to Chapel Street, between Chapel Lane
on the north, and Na(h's Houfe (the next
plot of land on the fouth, where a refi-
dence now ftands, but which never be-
longed to New Place), is not more than
fixty feet in length.

Two apparent exceptions prefent them-
felves, viz., a piece of ancient wall which,
extending under the ftreet, protrudes in-
wards into the main wall of the Clopton
foundations; and a few feet removed from
it, in one of the offices, there are the re-
mains of the crown of a vaulting. Both
thefe interlopers, looking ftrangely out of
place, are at firft fight a complete puzzle.
Why they were fuffered to abide where
they now aflert themfelves, and are un-
doubtedly in the way, is the natural con-
jedlure.

The

■t-^m

. The

the fouttdatii»9tt
footpath t£ Xatkpm^l
both from pofitkm tt&^
txi the Great Ho^C#ii$^;
be one of the finuidfi&uiil
way or entranoe dI
which would needS^|r^
very ftrong^ if above ll^^
ponderous oak beams^aail^
carved arcades) then ro^diHki
chamber, with oriel WifiiliMKi
|ng the ftreet Tlmm
which, though it feentt
muft be taken for w1»t #t

The crown of the
thrufting iftelf into OE^voSi
c^ces would be a ia9uiR# j
tery, fuppoiing it to
Houfe; but, with all
be queftioned whether il^
it not, after all, be

1 U^jLinv.«-»flL45***^*™*'

Stratford-upon-Avon. 303

one) mafs of vaulting, which did not
break afunder when that reverend Sam-
fon pulled down a domeftic Gaza about
the ears of his enemies — the Philiftines
of Stratford ? May not this conglome-
rate have quietly dropped from its vaulted
eminence to the humble pofition on the
floor which it now occupies, and (inflantly
covered in with lighter materials) have
efcaped being dafhed afunder ? This
fuppofition, if it be corredt, would folve
a difficulty of which there has, as yet,
been no fatisfadtory folution offered.

Afluming it to be true, the remains of
Shakefpere's Houfe would be the above-
mentioned (porch) wall, and the main
walls of the Great Houfe adjoining
Chapel Lane, which the Clopton walls
were built acrofs, and interfered, but
which remain in their original folid con-
dition. Thefe main walls are preferved
the entire depth of the houfe, commen-
cing

im

fejS'

:<mm^£^'

MiSig fioQi 'oIkv

nmning et^OTttd^
Having fcadbdl^^
which fooiilxtkxH :

mt a rig^t a&i^

ttbout twenty fi^iMeN
a fire-place <^ the
over and upon diei% #111
come lofty and we fi0^

Theie, die&» are tdu^^
very houfe in whid^
lived and died. Ilit^^i
able, it is truie, biH^ii
more extenfive diaii
dared to lK>pe; for
that two lK>ufe$ li
fite^ and (as k evidecdp
the former wore ki i
avray in order to
the latter,—^!

-r^l

»..:<^kl,^^

Stratford-upon-Avon. 305

paflionate vexation which caufed the fud-
den and total demolition of the latter, it
is a matter of no fmall fatisfaftion to dif-
cover at leajl fixty feet of the indifputable
and veritable foundations of the Great
Houfe that Sir Hugh Clopton eredled
nearly four hundred years ago, furviving
the ravages of time and the w^ork of
man's deftrudivenefs, exhumed and once
more brought to light in the middle of
the nineteenth century ; fo that all who
reverence the name and memory of the
greateft genius of the world, may identify,
and, for themfelves, examine the walls of
the houfe in which our Shakefpere lived
and died.

In the midft of thefe foundations there
has been fimultaneoufly revealed an objedt
of peculiar intereft. It is ** Shakefpere 's
" Well " — the ancient well of New Place.
When the labourers made the difcovery
in digging out the foundations, it was

choked

3o6 New PlacCy

choked with the debris of the Gaftrell
ruins. The well was cleared out, and its
quoiningftones were found to be as perfeft
as ever. On the 5th of Auguft, 1862,
another well, equally as ancient, and, if
poffible, in a better ftateof prefervation as
to its mafonry, was difcovered in the em-
bankment under Nafli's Houfe, at the ex-
treme northern limit of the New Place
plot. Two wells attached to the fame houfe
feem ufelefs; and therefore it may be
conjectured, that although this latter well
is now within the boundaries of New
Place, it may, at fome diftant period,
have belonged to, and been enclofed in,
the adjoining freehold, " Nafh's Houfe,"
which is now included in the New Place
eftate. On the morning after the clear-
ance, Shakefpere's well had filled with
feveral feet of the pureft and moft deli-
cious fpring water. From the bountiful
fupply of this fpring, every traveller can

now

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 3 07

low flake his thirfl, and drink of the
fame well from which the Poet drank.

In the courfe of the excavations a few
irticles have been dug up, of no parti-
:ular intereft or value.

At the bottom of the well, a peculiarly
3rimitive flat - candlefl:ick, with long,
l:raight handle, and very fmall fliand for
:he candle, was found.

A bone-handled knife, with metal
Drnaments of an antique charafter.

A number of tobacco-pipe bowls of
:he time of Charles II. ; the bowls very
mall, and the clay imprefl!ed at the elbow
ivith the name of the manufafturer,
' Robt. Legg.'*

Figured tiles belonging to a pavement ;
jlafs ; and various pieces of iron-work,
nuch corroded.

Thefe, and a vafl: amount of fmall arti-
:les of domefl:ic ufe, have been found
imong the debris^ which are all collefted

together

308 New Placcy

together at Nafh's Houfe for the anti-
quary's examination and difcuflion.
Among them there may perchance be
fome trifling objedls as ancient as the
time of Shakefpere; but it would be
almoft idle to hope that the riddhng of
the vaft amount of earth which has been
difplaced will bring to light any objedls
of real value, or capable of being aflb-
ciated with the Poet's tenancy of New
Place.

AD

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 309

All the boundaries of Shakefpere's Gar-
den — including the " Great Garden " —
have been afcertained, and proved by
the title-deeds (nearly 100 in number) of
the furrounding properties. The whole
of this New Place eftate is now purchafed
and fecured to the public, with the ex-
ception of one plot occupied by a con-
venticle-like brick building, entitled "The
" Theatre." This ftrudlure has neither
age, appearance, utility, nor aflbciation to
recommend it to the public. The fpot
where it ftands was never occupied by
any former theatre ; the building be-
longs to the prefent century. As a build-
ing it is to the laft degree ugly, and
might be miftaken for a village Bethel or

Ebenezer !

3IO New PlacCy

Ebenezer ! It is an obftruftion and eye-
fore in Shakefpere's Garden ; added to
which, to complete its condemnation, it
is not a theatre at all ! Having been con-
verted into a fort of ledlure-hall or public
room, it fuits the purpofes either of a
Police Court or County Court in the morn-
ing, and of Ethiopian Serenaders, Con-
jurors, and Travelling Wonders at night!

The building belongs to (hareholders,
who are willing to fell the property for
£i,ioo. In due time it is to be hoped
that this hideous fabric will be purchafed
and fwept away, fo that New Place may
be reftored to its former condition as a
garden, and preferved as fuch for ever.

The name of a theatre in Shake-
fpere's Garden, catches the ear, and fug-
gefts that it muft be connedled with the
traditions of the place. It is apparent
that this ftrufture has no claim to the
antiquary's confideration. There is but

one

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 1

one building in Stratford that is in any
way aflbciated with the paft — and that is
a barn. A barn is ftDl pointed out in
which Mrs. Siddons is faid to have per-
formed in her youth. The tradition is
probably true, becaufe not only was the
company of her father, Roger Kemble,
accuftomed to perform in Warwickshire,
but her grandfather, Mr. Ward, was in
the habit of adling at Stratford. On the
9th September, 1746, this gentleman
gave a benefit performance in the (then)
Town Hall, in order to procure funds for
repainting the buft of Shakefpere on the
monument in the church, and reftoring
the original colours. The play enabled
was Othello^ accompanied with a Pro-
logue written for the occafion by the
Rev. Jofeph Greene. Through Ward, a
diftinguifhed man of the prefent gene-
ration was connected with a remote
dramatic era : the late Charles Kemble,

with

312 New Placey

"n

with whofe perfon and performances
thoufands ftill among us were familiar,
was Ward's grandfon; and the grand-
father was an after in the days of Bet-
terton. At one of his benefits in Dub-
Un, the celebrated Peg Woffington made
her firft appearance, according to the
ftatement in Boaden's "Life of Kemble,"
though his ftatement **errs in particu-
" larity ; " for while it fixes the date as
April 25th, 1760, the records of the
quiet little church at Teddington tell us
that on the 3rd of that month, in that
fame year. Peg Woffington had left life's
ftage for ever, and was interred on that
day, aged 42. The miftake made by
Boaden arofe from his confufing the
year of Woffington's death with the year
of her firft appearing for the benefit of
Charles Kemble's grandfather. The hall
in which Ward produced Othello^ for the
purpofe of reftoring the monument at

Stratford

J

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 3

Stratford, no longer exifls ; fo that the barn
which is affociated with the name of Mrs.
Siddons, feems to be the fole remaining
building in the town within which the
plays of the Poet were reprefented in the
days that are gone and the years that are
fled.

At the commencement of this work
it was contended that as great a venera-
tion is felt for Shakefpere by the prefent
generation as by any that preceded it. It
muft, at the fame time, be admitted that
the age is eminently pradlical. With a
revived and increafingly fpreading tafte
for the Beautiful, the men of the Iron
age demand that the Beautiful fhall be
combined with the Ufeful. Englifh-
men are ever ready to give their money
in honour of a great name; but they
ftipulate that it fhall not be wafted on

ufelefs

M:

it has been die
(how what uJe hat'
money alreadjr provided' '
New Place in its int
corecL Shakel^pere^s ^
rifks from future fides.
GreatHoufe has beenc
remains of foundations ha¥e
to light. The garden, asftt-i
ilate, will pfcfcntly be
ftored to its former uik
for ever, it will be Shake^

In this, a good wwk haal
pliflied. Much is done; bm^
to do. To complete die waHi
public aid will be nc
that aid the public mnft Jbi^
might be well if thofe
cerned in the various -
Place, and have
records conneded witit

k

■ A^^:^^^ *s= :a.

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 5

to the world a detailed hiftory of them,
accompanied by the fulleft plans and
illuftrations of the property as it exifted
when put into truft in 1861. Hereafter
fuch a work, which this fmall volume
makes no prefumptuous pretence of un-
dertaking, would be of the higheft value.
There are very few men among us com-
petent to perform it ; but among the few,
Mr. Halliwell has had rare advantages in
his connection with the purchafes of
New Place, which no one elfe has en-
joyed. To him the public feem to have
a right to look for that fair and faithful
hiftory — that compilation of the facSs re-
garding New Place, which have hitherto
been obfcure or unknown, but muft now
be beft known to him.

The objedl with which thefe pages have
been written, will be fully accomplifhed if
they fucceed in attradling public notice to
the good work fo far done, and in ftimu-

lating

3i6 New Place J

lating the aid which is neceflary to com-
plete the full redemption of the Poet's
property. New Place muft for ever be
aflbciated with the memory of Shake-
fpere ; and the mere fight of foundation
walls belonging to the houfe in which
he lived and died, cannot fail to excite
the deepell intereft in the minds of all
who are attracted to the ipot by hearing
of the recent difcoveries. But intereft
having been excited, and curiofity having
been gratified, a pracflical purpofe will
be required, fooner or later, to fupport the
fentiment, under the influence of which,
Shakeipere's countrymen have purchafed
his garden. We are often afllured that
" opportunity is everything." If not
everything, it is unquefl:ionably a great
thing; and with regard to the fubjeft
under confideration, opportunity has re-
folved to do her beft in lending it a help-
ing hand.

The

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 7

The fwiftly approaching year 1 864 will
be the Tercentenary Jubilee of the Poet's
Birth. Nearly a century ago (in 1769),
the celebration of his nativity was held
in Stratford under the direction of David
Garrick. A fillier or more ufelefs exhibi-
tion was never witnefled. Defpite the ex-
citement which it created at the moment
in Stratford, there feem to have been
fbme of the inhabitants who fpoke of it
in contemptuous language, for the " Gar-
" rick Correfpondence " reveals a paflage
of letters between the Rev. Mr. Jago,*
of Snitterfield, and George Garrick, the
brother of the tragedian, fhowing that
the latter had refented fome uncompli-
mentary animadverfions of Mr. Jago's
upon Garrick and the Jubilee. The
brother's refentment was a neceflary re-
fult, for never was there a more devoted

brother

'*■ Appendix. L.

^ f brother diaa im^^
^, ^> Dayid. Adiaittubgi
afibrded us intbe -^t
Charles Bannifter at thei
demiie. Whenever Gmrgt
from Drury Lane fin* any^
on returning, his invaiiabk i
hall-porter was, ''Has na^t
" me ? " It eventuated thai
died within a few days of'
David Garrick expired aft iil^
the Terrace, Adelphi, eifij^-
day morning, January a^lib'^l
was buried in Poet's Comet
of February. On the gtd &
George Garrick expired*-
port reached Drury Lm^
ferved, '' His brother wttnyil

But the admiration
George for David coidd'
fling of the Rev. Mr.
obfervations. Their

320 New Place 9

the ludicrous, would wifh to contemplate.
Diftant be the day when the Corporation
of Stratford remove from their Hall, this
humorous reprefentation of an hiftorical
event that never took place !

With reference to Mrs. Siddons appear-
ing as Venus in the proceflion of the
Jubilee, it is true that fhe did perfonate
that part, but not at Stratford. Owing
to the proceflion being wafhed out of the
programme, it was dramatifed the follow-
ing Odtober (1769), at Drury Lane, by
Garrick, who introduced into it the fongs
and the odes that had been given in the
Stratford Amphitheatre. We read of it,
'* Such was the magnificence of the
'* fcenery, and the effedt given through-
" out the piece, that it was fo far efta-
** blifhed in public favour as to caufe its
'' being repeated during the feafon for
" upwards of 100 nights."

It was not even upon this occafion

that

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 2 1

that Mrs. Siddons exhibited as Venus,
nor, until 1775, — the feafon before Gar-
rick's final retirement, and that of her firft
appearance at Drury Lane. Garrick re-
vived the fpeSlacle of the Jubilee Procef-
fion during the feafon, and the Lady Ann
who had trembled in terror before his
glance of reproach in the great fcene of
Glofter's wooing, was caft to perfonify
Venus. Mrs. Siddons, in her Autograph
Recollections, alludes to the Jubilee per-
formance : — " He (Garrick) would fome-
" times hand me from my own feat in
" the green-room to place me next to his
" own. He alfo feledled me to perfonate
" Venus at the revival of the Jubilee.
" This gained me the malicious appella-
" tion of * Garrick's Venus,' and the ladies
" who fo kindly beftowed it on me, rufhed
" before me in the laft fcene, lo that if he
" (Mr. Garrick) had not brought us for-
" ward with him, with his own hands,

" my

u

my

Uttk

** biographer llidiililiH
^' felf» whole a|]^piGaiiM
" the very front of the'^
^' as well been in the
'' Mr. Garrick would W$t
^^ lending me into one<^^
<< he aded any of his gmt^^

Such are the fads whidbrj
name of Mrs. Siddons vi^ikn
Procefliony there bding iio
all with the cdebradon jft^
whichy nevertheleis, Ihei
prcfcnt; for two years
tuary 12, 1767), Mife
twelve), and her brothov^:^
{aged ten),* had appeared tiiti
the Prince^ Elizabeth iuld/i

* John Philip Kemble '
cafhire, Februa^, i757- Tllo i
fince, curate of Prefeot, and a i
ble folks who now inhalnt tibtt :

;-^X*':'V,»:

s.

il

r

lkratf(»rdmupM*Ao(m. 323

Torky in the theatre at Worcefter, in
Havard's tragedy of C harks the Ftrfi^
which, though unknown to the modem
ftage, was at one time highly popular,
and fb afieding, that when the part of
Charles was performed at Hull by Cum-
mings, the early rival of Kemble, his im-
peribnation of the miferies of the King
fe overwhelmed Mils Terrot, the daugh-
ter of a garrifbn officer, that her emotions
caxifed her inftantaneous death.

The Stratford Jubilee was celebrated
for three days: Wednefday, Thurfday,
and Friday, the 6th, 7th, and 8th

of

:1

fkA Giw Ug^t. Like many houfes in the neighbonr-
ImmmI, it is built of the preyailing red iandflone, and it
f{- iriiitewaihed. It has lolidity enough to laft for oen-
t!* inriei to come. In former years, when Prefcot was the
ifrft town out of Liverpool on the coaching road, thou-
lands of travellers would pals by the door of John
KemUe's birthplace. It flands in the " Lower Road,**
from the market-place of Prefcot to the neig^
_ railway fiation of Rainhill; and the good man
liie^hoaie uied to take pride in ihowing th« bed*
>*r whidi th* great ador cum i*th* wnld» w^
gpsg a *nndred yeear.**

m

l4si4:i

w Sept6Bw6ij» -il
thronged mdiir^lois
the fuitoiiadiiig om^
preient^ stmof^ otibm^-^fr

The Duke ^J

Dvkeof]

The Bad of Nortbamptoo^

£arl of HertfiH^

EarlofPhrinoiiAL

EailofCarlille,

EailofDenbkk

£arlofShieiv3DQr]r»

Lord Beaudupf^
Lord GfoJraxxv
Lord Wkidlbr,
Lord CatheiloiMfr«
Lord and Ladf ^peaiott^ -
LordandLadjj'
Lord and Lady i

and alarge number of ]
of Parliament, and
Connected with the #tttt9^i

David Gankk, and hb 1

Mr. Fdote^

Mr. Coknan,

Mr. Maddin,

Mr. and Mrs. Yatea^

Mr. Rofi (Bdiabio),

Mr. Lee (Bath)« ;^^k

and about one hundred iJil|

Stratford-upon-Avon. 325

and adlrefles of minor repute from the
London theatres.

Among other notabilities prefent was
James Bofwell. Dr. Johnfon was flay-
ing with the Thrales, at Brighton, and
could not be induced to honour the
Jubilee with his prefence. Bofwell fays,
" I was very forry that I had not his
** company with me at the Jubilee in
" honour of Shakefpeare, at Stratford-
" upon-Avon, the great Poet's native
** town. Johnfon's connexion both with
** Shakefpeare and Garrick founded a
" double claim to his prefence, and it
" would have been highly gratifying to
" Mr. Garrick. Upon this occafion I
" particularly lamented that he had not
** that warmth of friendfhip for his
" brilliant pupil which we may fup-
" pofe would have had a benignant
" efFe6t on both. When almofl every
" man of eminence in the literary

" world

■%\T

? world was;liiq^p
«fcftival of G€aiii%''i|if
'' Johnfbn couM aot 1>«ii|Nip
** and regretted/' ' :'J X
Perhaps the tcfdift j#|
be the revedfe of BoAv^fe
'' Cham "was not partial iOii
and it is probd>fe tfaat'^^i
from Stratford becaofe he
courage his '* brilliant popitl
his **foolilh hobby horfc."**

II T 'LiMC!

* A number of lettets reg tt d to g;
1769, addreded by Garridc to Ms. jpii
(grandfather of the prefent Tcywn
ence. In one of them Ganic^L &j«^<
" day, to my furprile, that the
'' feem to relifh our Jubilee, that!
" be Popiih, and that we ihovild
'' would not I (uppoie this may lie ^k]
"all my trouble, pains, labor, a!Dd2
" fervice and the honour oip
*' very hard if I am not to be i
'' however, I ihall not be the fitft,j
"Iam,r
" Always in a hurgf^^

«* Pray tell me finoerely yAsti

-\

Stratford-upon-Avon. 327

no tafte for mafquerading, which Bofwell
had. The occafion was propitious.
During the day he appeared in the
flreets of Stratford with the words
" Corfica Bofwell " difplayed in large
letters round his hat ; and at the evening
entertainment he exhibited himfelf as a
Corfican Chief, with " Vtva la Liberia "
infcribed on the front of his cap ! John-
fon's prefence at fuch fooling, would have
been much to be regretted.

The only portions of the Jubilee which
deferve record, were the performance, in
Stratford Church, of Dr. Arne's Oratorio
of Judithy under the direction of Arne
himfelf, for which he received a payment
of £60 from Garrick; and the Oration
pronounced by Garrick, in the Amphi-
theatre. The Odes, which were partly
fpoken by him, and partly fung, con-
tain nothing to recommend them to
our perufal ; but one paiTage from the

" Oration

328 New PlacCy

" Oration in honour of Shakefpere,
" written and fpoken by Mr. Garrick,"
may fitly be reproduced. Alluding to
the " ufes " and opportunities of life, at
the clofe of his oration, Garrick faid, —

" In thefe fields, where we are pleafed
" with the notion of doing him honour,
" he is mouldeyng into duft.

' Denf the praud car, and mute the tuneful tongue'

" How awful is the thought! Let me
" paufe. If I fpeak, it muft be in my
" own charafter and in yours. We are
" men ; and we know that the hour
" approaches with filent but irrefiflible
" rapidity, when we alfo fhall be duft.
" We are now in health and at eafe ; but
" the hour approaches when we fhall be
" fenfible only to ficknefs and to pain, —
" when we fhall perceive the world gra-
" dually to fade from our fight, and clofe
" our eyes in perpetual darknefs,"

Ten

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 29

Ten years fubfequently the world had
faded from Garrick's fight. Time's courfe
is fo rapid, that another centenary Jubilee
is clofe at hand. What men of eminence
in the literary world, what nobles or
princes of the land, will colled: at Strat-
ford — and in what manner the Jubilee
is to be conducted — muft fhortly be con-
fidered. It may, however, be fuggefted
to thofe interefted in the refloration of
New Place, and to thofe who will arrange
the programme of the Jubilee, that they
{hould remember Garrick's folemn pero-
ration on the "ufes" of life, and, efpecially
in this praftical age, determine upon
foliciting public iympathy and fupport
in April, 1864, ^^^ praftical purpofes,
and not for a frivolous pageant to the
memory of a great man. The bed
honour which can be paid to his memory
will be the promotion of objects ufeful to
the body of men in connection with

whom

330 New Place ^

whom Shakeipere made his name and
fame.

That the Tercentenary of his birth
fhould be celebrated at his birthplace is
a propriety which every one will recog-
nife; but what mujl be there, may alfo
be elfewhere. There is no reafon why
the people of the Metropolis (hould not
commemorate the occafion, as well as the
feleft few whofe time and means will
allow them to congregate at Stratford.
Such a double celebration feems almoft
a certainty. But, whatever be the form
of feftival held, whether in London or in
Stratford, the age we live in, warns all
fenfible men againft the repetition of any
fuch mumming as took place under Gar-
rick's programme of 1769. Foote, who
was prefent, has given us his definition of
that occafion : — " A Jubilee is a public
" invitation, circulated by puffing, to go
" poft without horfes, to a borough

" without

Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 3 1

" without reprefentatives, governed by
" a mayor and aldermen who are no
" magiftrates, to celebrate a great poet,
" whofe own works have made him im-
" mortal, by an ode without poetry,
** mulic without melody, dinners with-
" out victuals, and lodgings without
" beds ; a mafquerade, where half the
" people are bare-faced ; a horfe-race up
" to the knees in water ; fireworks extin-
" guifhed as foon as they were hghted ;
" and a gingerbread amphitheatre, which,
" like a houfe of cards, tumbled to pieces
" as foon as it was finifhed." Foote's
cauflic humour, if not true in its defcrip-
tion of the Jubilee, is perfectly true in
outline ; the grotefque colouring of the
pi(flure is its only untruth.

It is devoutly to be wifhed, that the
follies of 1769, may be a warning to the
people of 1864. "To begin and end with
a fliow, and to accomplifh no permanent

good.

332 New Place J

good, is not confonant with the tafle of
the prefent day. Whether at Stratford or
in London, or at both places, the Tercen-
tenary celebrations muft feek the public
iympathy on behalf of fome public good.
If there were but the one celebration at
Stratford, it might be well to devote all the
funds coUefted, to the completion of the
propofed purchafes, the laying-out of New
Place Gardens, and the erection of fome
monumental ftrufture, commemorative
of the purchafe and of the 300th
celebration of the Poet's Birth, but,
while beautiful as a piece of architec-
ture, at the fame time a flrudture that
fhould be praftically ufeful for literary
purpofes, and a benefit to Stratford and the
nation. In the Metropolis, the refults of
a Jubilee celebration, might probably be
devoted to fome other objeft. It appears
natural, that the objedt fhould be Metro-
politan ; and if fuggeftions were wanted,

numberlefs

Stratford-upon-Avon. 333

numberlefs fchemes, without doubt, would
quickly be propofed. But it fhould never
be forgotten that the Jubilee is in honour
of Shakefpere, and that thofe have the
beft claim to enjoy the benefits of the
public largefs, who, in this day and gene-
ration, follow the calling of the man, to
whofe honoured memory, the commemo-
ration is dedicated.

True it is, there are many who profefs a
confcientious difapproval of the drama, and
who, neither diredlly nor indiredly, would
encourage the " poor player." It may be
a fubjedt of regret — but, neverthelefs, it is
a fad: which cannot be denied — that fome
perfons affedt to condemn the works of
Shakefpere himfelf. With this undoubted
fadt in mind, it will be defirable, having due
refped: to tender confciences and hopelefs
prejudices, to prefent fome objed for pub-
lic iympathy at the Jubilee, which may, if
poflible, difarm all cavil and objedion.

If

'%

If the

'^M

which he

ei^m, ground — aiiii» fer 4piif j

ment it be moob^t

the Puritanu^ view i£iM
righteous audi proper?
iame proportion that- ki
lerted to be evil and.
the fympathies and
peribnsy if fincere in
aroufed on behalf of omA
connedted with Shakei|)eifi
Whatever the player m^f
child muft be an iA^e&i^i
all who are interefted' ift
of the young ; — but he
fo to thofe, whofedi:^it
cerity of their princ^dcfl^fi
reicue of that chSid$
which they bdieve <
welfare!

:.nn

^Vifi^i

Stratford'Upon-Avon. 335

It is to be hoped that the fubjedt of
education would prefcnt a common
ground, whereon diverlities of opinions
might meet to accompUfh, a truly Chrif-
tian and beneficial objedt.

In the abundant philanthropy of the
prefent age, fchools and inftitutions have
iprung up on every fide, wherein the
greater the degradation of the young,
the greater the iympathy of the pro-
fefled religious world ! The fallen, the
friendlefs, the erring, and the outcaft,
have been the recipients of Chriftian
compafTion and folicitude. Every right-
feeling perfon muft pray that God's blef-
fing may protect and profper our Ragged
Schools, our Reformatories, our Peni-
tentiaries, and that they may, in their
profperity, refledl bleflings on the heads of
all earneft men and women, who, in their
fupport, have practically evinced the firft
of Chriftian virtues. But there are

fpheres

H'I^^

%hefe8 mM^

lute wwU and

where ^^npadrf it^i||^

wh^ reQ)e£ba]ils

no man an;^

aid» and values ^dlfn

hpnpurable a lovej a* ^_

nobleft of the land !

Among Shakel^>efe!t
icendants^ there ane m«|i
owing to the finaUii^^^
are hindered &cm
progeny that found
EngliCh child fhouM Pl^l^
conftrained by need, m^^
troduce their ofiq>rii^lfi
to Aibordinate fituaooQ* |jp
a time when the chjld^
cal conflitution rec^ait^
ing up in the way it ihci
the vigour derived &gQ|^
early rifing, early i^

JM^^

j^de flowerfc
Old Etig^
touching unicm; «ili
&tirift of this age nuM^
the hearts of his rksAs^i
paflage of the Ne
aged brother of the Ghiileir!
tothe chapd-bdl callmg
to their prayers» and
fblemn fummons, ^^A^^imt
ter Houfe is one of mitt^
dations icattered abottt?
was a happy thought eni!
thoie who were moft
ting the Dramatic Cdfegi^;^
within the boundaries of 1
tion, a (chool for the
be ereded hard byrthe:!
who had fallen into ^'
leaf The homes are
good work has not jrist^
Is there not^ in fi^Ii

Stratford-'Uptm^Avm.

beoefidal and charitable objedifc^ to which
^ profits of a Metropolitan Tercen-
tenary celebration of Shake(pere*s na-
thri^ might be dedicated ? The educa*
tion of the children of adtors can be ob*-
Je£ted to by none, and is a righteous
* tod goodly aim, that may properly be
^ 4^>proved by all !

.It would be a great work accomplished
«— a work of genuine and practical honour
to the memory of the Poet, if on a fei^
l^rtivalf which can only be celebrated by
every third generation, a fufficient fund
were raiied for building and endowing
l^^irith a few " Shakefpere Scholarfhips^"
pl^ Dramatic College School, wherein the
l^^iildren of the hard-worked and humbly-^
artifts could be provided with
and liberal education, fitting then^
adults, to take their choice of otlmr
igs in life than thofe of their parent$i^
|b dii|)ofed ; but, under any drcum^

ftai^es

%

340 New Place.

fiances, preferving them in their child- j

hood, from the turmoil, fatigue, prema- !

ture conftitutional decline, and inevitable i

precocity, of baby adtors, and Thefpian ,

phenomena. I

By the erection of fuch a fchool, i

Shakefpere's Jubilee, in 1864, would be i

made a genuine and abiding Jubilee in |

the families of hundreds of our country- |

men, who are painftaking, flriving, and ,

refpedtable men, — who would blefs, I

with grateful hearts, the friends that I

fympathife with them in their narrow |

circumftances, — friends that abhor the |
afTumption of patronage, and cordially
embrace a rare opportunity of fhowing

concern and care for the player's children, ,

on the feftival which commemorates that \

red-letter day in England's calendar, when, I

three hundred years ago, fvveet Shakeipere I
was himfelf a child !

APPENDIX.

*^ 'IS 'v •V '1^ 5^ 'V 'It 'V 'ir H* ^ nr 'It 'It '1* 'It 't^ *^

A — page 1$.

The Family of Bolt,

Though confiderable information has been difcovered
in the preparation of this work regarding the Botts, as
given at pp. 75 to 85, neverthelefs, 1 have not thought
it worth while to purfue my inquiries far into their
hiftory, as 1 (hould had there been anything of intereft
as regards Shakefpere hkely to be arrived at by the
refearch.

It will be obferved that I have fpoken in ftrong
language regarding W. Bott ; and, at p. 86, have called
him a "grafping lawyer." From the evidence which
has come into my polfelfion in refearches regarding
the Tales of New Place, I find that Bott mull have
been a thoroughly unprincipled, pettifogging attorney,
doing all the dirty work of Stratford and its neigh-
bourhood. His charader oozes out through the
medium of the following proceedings taken in the
Star Chamber (temp, fllizabeth) ; and however meagre
the details may be, ftill new light is difcernible regard-
ing fome members of his family and his pofition with
reference to W. Underbill.

By the Bill of Complaint we are informed that
John Harper, of Henley-on-Arderne, co. Warwick,
who was polfefled of certain lands and tenements in
Henley, Ownall, Wotton, and Whitley, in the county
aforefaid, was in danger of being taken in execution
under a diftrels at the fuit of Sir Edward Alton, Knight.
Under which circumflances, being himfelf a plain and

(imple-

342 Appendix.

(imple-minded man, he was induced to feek the affift-
ance of W. Bott, of Stratford, a man of about fifty
years of age, and reputed of Ibme experience and
ability, to advife him properly.

Bott had two fons and three daughters, and finding
his client polfelfed of fome fubflance, although under
age, made up a match between him and his daughter
Ifabel ; and further, on the loth of April, 1563, devifed
a deed of feotfment, whereby Harper Ihould alfure to
him and others, in fee fmiple, all his lands to certain
ufes, unknown to the petitioner, but as far as he con-
ceives, to the ufe of petitioner and wife, and their
heirs, &c., with remainder to one of Bott's Ions, pro-
miling to extricate him from his difficulties, alleging
it was for the better advancement of his wife ; and
that the faid deed was only a conveyance of his goods,
and " that becaufe the goods remained in the houje, he
" miift make livery of them by the ring of the door,**
The unfufpeding youth fell into the fnare, being
eafily led to do whatever his father-in-law intruded
him, who, not content with this, if we may believe
the allegations of the petitioner, forged, eraled, and
altered other deeds concerning the faid conveyance;
indeed, in the preamble of the bill, which we mull
bear in mind was framed probably fome (ix or feven
years after (Mrs. Harper being dead in the interim,
without children), he denounces him as "a man
'* clearly void of all honefty^fdelity, or fear of Gody and
" openly detecied oj divers great and notorious crimes, as,
" namely, felony, adultery, whoredom, falfehood, and
** forging, a procurer of the difinherifon of divers gentle-
** men your Alajesty's fuljecis, a common tarretour, and
'' Jiirrer of fedition amongji your AIaje/ly*s poor fub-
*'jeasr

I'his nefarious proceeding, executed without the
confent or privity of petitioner, places him in the
pofition that he cannot leafe his lands, &c., without
Bott's confent, and that, in point of fad, he is only
tenant thereto for life. Having thus wrefled peti-
tioner's

Appendix. 343

lioner's pofleflions, he withholds too the evidences and
muniments of the fame — the contents, and even the
number of which are utterly unknown to petitioner. |
He prays, therefore, a writ of fubpena for \V. Bott
perfonally to appear and anfwer thefe charges. Thus
far the complainant's rtatement.

Bott denies the fa6ts alleged as flanders emanating
from complainant and his adherents, and declares that
if the premifes were true, it were determinable at
common law, and not in the court of Star Chamber,
flating that about hx years ago, complainant being a
minor, did marry his daughter 1 label, at which time he
promifed on arriving at twenty-one he would make her
a jointure ; but inilead thereof, becoming improvi-
dent, he mortgaged his lands, and fell into difficulties.
Thereupon, coming to his father-in-law in tears, he
befought his allillance, which he readily promifed on )
thefe conditions, viz., that he Ihould alfure his eliate, j
or rather the portion left unfquandered, to himfelf and j
wife, or the longell liver of them, then to their ilTue, i
failing which, to the various fons and daughters of the I
faid Bott in fuccellion, for which defendant undertook i
to fatisfy Sir Edward Alion and divers other creditors. i
The catalogue of crimes hurled at his reputation he
meets by a countercharge, and declares it to be by the
**JaIfe and inalkious pmcnrernent of otic IVUiwin Under-
** hill and Rowland l^lielaVy which thai the faid difen-
*' dant is ready to aver and prove that the faid Under hill
*' is a Jiirrer of f edition^ and of a very evil confcience,
*' and Jo meet to join with the faid IVhelar, a very common
" harretour and a vagabond.'' Further, he denies the
truth of the (latement about his own procurement of
the marriage, for the complainant was married three
or four years before the atlhir of Sir Edward Afton.
All the other charges he denies in totoferiatim.

The replication of Harper denies the ftateraent
about the jointure, and that whatever mortgage he
made, which would be but trifling, was at Bott's infti-
gation. The debts, too, as paid by defendant, were of

no

"*^

■^'^m^

.ViidaiaaiMBiif^

m Biagnitiidei
whole, indodiiu
of vbich dafendaiit fet\
feeovered agamft Sir E^MWb
fiiiii of 40 maika irbtcb ^
daughter as her downr, te»
, SofiirlnmiWr" " "^
with an/ vagabond, he h^txaiSstg
«' MM ^ a won^fUfM oMug in
^wM Immm to m kmt^ mm k
** and vfvtry good 110111^, wtpoHp an

Edward Afhm's MtmgasA
long before his marriagey is^

The lejoinder bj Bott drakes
the fiatements in the ibregoin|p
further that he never did pnwiftS
bigger fum than jfido, wUdi lia 48i
went to the churdi to be ni|ttTie4'>Ml
platnant is maintained and immitMllii'
the laid W. UnderfaiU and £»^ "
Whehur, as named in the aaArei;

B7 taking the year 1563 as the
or thereabouts, and awing fix |>eife^^
by Bott in his anfwer, the pnibabl
oeedings would be about \$^

It will be feen at p. 79, thai
relationihip at one penod bet
Cloptons. In the Domefiic
vol. czxxvii., art 68, anno. 1580!,
and Freeholders in the Coi»m eC
"Hundiedof

''GtfMge

In another fimilar woik appeaiBi^ '^>^'
''Soljhull^

(Intended for Bott, as theie wiaJ
SolyhuU at that date.) (

#M

^m

Appendix. 345

From various traces of the name, cropping-up in this
way, I have latislied mylelf that an extenlive family
of the Botts was fcattered about Warwickihire in
Shakefpere's time; and if it were worth while, a very
Ihght inquiry in the pari(h regillers in the neighbour-
hood of Stratford would probably fupply abundant evi-
dence concerning them. There was a moment when I
entertained the fufpicion that the Botts had been
mixed up with fome foul play perpetrated in the
Clopton family, in the time of William and Anne
Clopton.

On perufing the following documents, any reader
would naturally fuppofe, as I at firll did, that a William
Clopton, and Anne his wite, living about the years
1580 to i.';89, would be the William and Anne
marked "C" upon the Pedigree, more efpecially as
the circumltance of this William Clopton dying without
an heir, gives countenance to the allegations in the
following Bill of Complaint. I had not then compiled
the Clopton Pedigree, and conl"e(jUently was not aware
that William Clopton (C) lived until 1592, and that
Kentwell, in Suti'olk, was no part of the property of
that branch of the Clopton family feated at Clopton,
Warwicklhire. This proves the necellity for an inti-
mate acquaintance with family pedigrees when we
deal with public records, otherwife a confounding of
perfons may ealily arife, fuch as in this inlhance would
be moll natural, where we iind documents relating to
perlbns of particular names at a fixed date, and then
dilcover that perlbns of the fame names — man and wife
— and at the fame date, lived in another county.

Bill of Complaint of Anne Clopton, &:c.*

** Showing that her late hulband, William Clopton,

- Efq.

♦ Proceedings in Chancery, temp. EHz., C. c. 13, No. 3.
Date inscribed on the top, 12 May, 1589. Counts of three
documents only, the answer ot the defendants not appearing
to be extant.

m~

tt^M^^^

''maaon uid Imdt to-ll
'^aad aoothet; fa pqrifiid '

** xs£td fobtle meant to obCilifi t& 1
'«hein» peifiiadiiig the Ikid Wiffiiiil
^'enleebled bj loog fidaid% t^^SAtHk
** «ad< to convej hb wbple lefiMft ^lo ^
" Cbpton^ iodudng him to make Ui will^
"be left oaljr one legacy of ytxf fioatt \
''of his fervants, and nothinif to hit^
''or fiAen* diildren, te. &e. Prtjftft ^irlitll
"&c &c., as Thomas Ckqptoii^
" Gffoughton, and John Bowlell, tfie
"have proccued the pioperqr to bet
"felves^ and have made thenifidvei \

Replication of Anne Chiton lo
William Ciopton and John BowiUl: m;

"States that John Bowiell»
" to William Ciopton, complainant*!
" that during his long continued iUoeftlt
"bjr defendants to William Cloptou^
"wife, and one Thomas South* a ni|i
" Ciopton^ employed poiibn, wheteupiiii
"ihe mig^t go away ftom him tat ia
"until he were recovered and ^i3f$Mt.
"ceming fuch iknder$ to which hmt
"that Thomas Ciopton was a bsdt '
"uied fuch fpeeches of bar as wc
"reheatie. Finally, ihe went to diA.^
"Lady Pelham, of Suflex, and IjbiHi;^
"Edward Lovell, now iermil to
"adminiilered a potion to William
"was a puigative or fuch lik^
"which he died, whereas had It.
"refidence with him, (he would
"acoeflcny to his death.*'

. <

Appendix. 347

The Rejoinder of Thomas Clopton, Efq., and John
Bowfell, to the above Replication of Anne Clopton :

" Denies the allegations attributing her leaving to the
"indifcreet behaviour of complainant, and unnatural
" dealing towards her late hulband, whom flie neither
" loved nor obeyed j condemns the ftatement about
" Lovell as llander ; depofes to the perfect (late of
•*the faculties of William Clopton, and his powers of
** memory and appetite, &c."

B — page 16,

It would appear from the mention in this place
*' between 1563 and 1*570," that there is fome uncer-
tainty about the date of fale by \V. Bott to W. Under-
bill, whereas the exad date, Michaelmas Term, 1.567,
is given with a copy of the Fine at p. 85. The truth
is, that when paragraph 3rd, p. 16, was ftereotyped,
I had not difcovered the P'ine given at p. 85 ; and
rather than cancel the page, I preferred to make the
corredion in this place.

C— page 19.

The general reader had better be warned, particu-
larly if he fhould be a reader of Malone, againll falling
into the error into which that author, in the original
edition of his Shakefpere's Works, would betray him.

The ftatement there made, both as to the Nalh
pedigree, and as to the manner in which New Place
palled from owner to owner, is completely erroneous.
The fa6t is well known to every Shakel'perian fcholar
but it may be as well to fet it forth diftindly. Malone
fays —

" Sir

''Sir Jdba G^gim^m
''Cloptoii, £%» Md m^00
** Slratfoid-iuioi;i-A?oa la Amt. .«|i|lk
*'eflftte of New nioe» ete^fiMW ppl^

*i?*#^-

«' itiSj, from $lr Refl^nald Voianr^ ttitt» ^
^'Ma^, the dav^ter of JSdmfA «|i%^
"genoaa to Tliofiias Nefl^ ^'
''poet's graiid-daugii^« Blis.
"tx>iuiit it after &e death nf her fhqaa^
"Sir John Baraaid, Kot. By her %iO,
''her trofiee^ Heniy Smith, to Mi the Meirl
"etc (after the death of her hiiflMuid)^e8Af
"the firft ofier of it to her opofin, _ ' „
"who purchafed it accordiiigly. His Sam^
" Naih (whom, for the lake of difiiiidiai^ If
"▼oimger), having died withom iffiie in T
"Edward Naih, by hb will, made on the.)
" 1678-9, devifed the principal part of bil _
"his daaghter Maiy, ancl bar hnlbatt^'
"Fpffter, £fq., afterwards Sir Rqpnald
"in confequence of the tefhitor*s onlf i
"deed of fettlement executed three iMj%\
"out reciting the fubfbmoe of it, no jpaitlC|ilir|
"of New Pkce is made in his win. Alte '
" Clopton had bought it from Sir Regindd 1
"gave it by deed to his yotmger Ib^ dtrT
"pulled down our poet's hoow and boflt'
"elegant on the fame ^t*'

Malone*s errors in the above p^flage. W^
dmaiy, becaufe they are not on^ eitoia iif
but erroiB as to fales and purdiim^ wbidli f
amount of invefHgation wooM faaipe ^
have been incorr^ It is eaijr to INtH
the pedigree, but impoffiUe to ccHMttM^
be fb mmed as to make the fkiami£i
which will appear in the
compared with the corre& I

I give the pedigree which Ml i
and Malone nr^ and then the ^

''.te?;i;

. ^i ,^^r±^^ii3L£k^

M

O

3

H

O

O
<
X

en

<r1

o
w

2

O

Pi,

o

2;

— e

pa

cr».
y.

w

1 11-

CO

II-

O

II 'i

O

Pi

2

__ 3

c

-t3-C

;> 4_ E. u

^ c *'J=

' liii

. *- c H-c
' ** c ^^

= 4,^ o

' M^ o S.

• "^ >-^ E

f .5 2

i

350 Appendix.

"gave Mr. Ireland his firll information on whicli
" he created his vifionary falfehood (the Shakefpere
" forgeries)."

DittOy 1809, September, p. 88 j. — "It is cx)nje^red
" that many of his (Jordan's) tales refpedting Shake-
*' fpere were from his own inventive genius.**

E~page 57-
The Clopton Arms,

The porch of the Chapel of the Holy Cro(s has been
allowed to fall into fiich a rtate of decay, that only one
of the four fhields which once adorned it can now be
read. It is the one bearing the arms of London.

The ihields, as they originally appeared, are given
by Dugdale, and could eafily be rellored. A beautiful
coat of the Cloptons will be found infide the chapel,
adorning the porch at the entrance. It is unfortunately
buried under the clumly and ollenfive gallery which
has been erected over the line of the fcreen which
originally divided the chapel from a fmall ante-chapel.
Holy Crol's is one of the mod painful fpecimens of
plallerers', painters', and carpenters' church redoration.
Its pews and tit tings are moll fubftantial, mod fervice-
able, and moll detellable.

It is well known to every one acquainted with the
building, that its walls are adorned with a feries of
frefcoes of the moll interefting defcription. Thefe
have been carefully hidden under coats of yellow wafh.
Ever)thing that the Corporation of Stratford could do
to difguife this venerable pile, has been done. The
ancient oak fcreen has been hidden behind the gallery;
the exquilite llonework of the porchway has been
mutilated ; and all that the mod barbaric Protedant
tafte could accomplifli to convert the building into the
appearance of a comfortable ccuventicle, has been

thoroagfaly

Appendix. 351

thoroughly carried out. There are only three features,
internally, of this building, that carry us back in
imagination to Sir Hugh Clopton's time. ift. His
Ihield and quarterings, which have happily efcaped
delirudion on one lide of the doorway. 2nd. The
tracery of the windows. 3rd. A beautiful piece of
mediaeval iron-work — the handle of the priefts* door,
palfing from the chancel to the garden formerly occu-
pied by the priells' houfes, attached to the prelent
grammar fchool.

The fooner the Corporation of Stratford fet about
a reftoration of this chapel — clean the walls and
reproduce the frefcoes ; remove the frighttul and ule-
lels gallery blocking up the lovely tower arch j reftore
the fcreen to its proper place, and fit up the building
with open benches and Halls — the more it will be to
tlieir credit.

Inftead of introducing the following facts in the
Clopton Pedigree, I have refcrved them to be inferted
here. It will have been feen that on the death of
Mrs. Partheriche, the Clopton Houfe Ellate palled
under her will to Charles Boothby Scrimlher, Efq. (I),
who took the name of Clopton. The Pedigree Ihows
that he was the fon of Anne Clopton, who married
Thomas Boothby, Kfcj., and the heir-at-law of Mrs.
Partheriche at her deceafe. According to the provi-
fions of that lady's will, in default of iflbe the eftate
was to pals to Edward Ingram, Eh(|. (K, Pedigree), the
fon of Barbara Clopton and Alhton Ingram ; and, in
cafe of default, to his brother John or his heirs, all of
whom were tenants for life. In cafe of no ilfue in any
of thefe families, the ellate was to pafs to one Anthony
Clopton, of Ireland, who had perfuaded Mrs. Parthe-
riche that he was defcended from the Clopton family.
C. B. Scrimftier Clopton died 181/;, without ilUie j
Edward Ingram died 1818, without ilVue ; John Ingram

lied, aged 90, November 20, 1824, without illue.

The faid Anthony Clopton died in like manner

fiflff «l

bf the

Im willy ctsfff

qfOopCoa) ibid die

fer j^io^ooo VOL momif^mA

aiiinUl the j£io.ooo bsim;

brother Chadet Bootfabj» wlh^

wnb^nvfid* ocMQiiiitteifi^GUii^

Charles Mejiiell, £fi|., the
died in rSij, leaviog
who married Sannidl &odda)^
joiotl/, bj a deoee ef die ^
dopCQii Hoafe and eflate for 4§<
nioQe]r(e7o 8cre8)ainoiintiiiglo
on the eroite being further
timber Ibid for 4^5^ $ and the
ford church, ixdth two finaBei
Clopton meadow, for j&i«56<>i

V4MXLT PICTUaaS IV TW HOVitf

whole were purchaied fiir ^1
Jjoffd, E6{., of Wekom b e, "
Mr. hojd died in Jul/, 1831;
Wekombe eftate to his brbtiber^
j^., for his life, and afterwaidf 10
Warde, Efq., die pr^eot fotb/fbfi
legal difficulties, owing to the
purchafe prior to Mr. Lofd*$
rght hy an order, in Chaaoe^y
interefi to the public The ahoee '
may be interefted in the futifeS
of the hands through* which db0
pafledfince the extiMimiof the ^
upon the Pedigree, down to the,

r -:

_ i-.l.iii=i^afe^i:

Appendix. 353

F— page 87.
UnderhilL

The hiftory of the fettlement of the Underhill
family at Eatington, near Stratford, is curious and
amufing. The fa6ts now related are gathered from the
elaborate notice of Eatington and of the Shirley family
contained in the MSB. of the late Rev. Mr. Warde.

The Pedigree I have given (hows that the Underhills
came originally from Wolverhampton. They fettled at
Eatington in the tirft year of the reign of Henry VIII.,
owing to John Underhill marrying for his fecond wife
one Agnes Porter, of Eatington. This John obtained
a leafe for 80 years of the manor of Eatington, from
Sir Ralph Shirley, Knight. I'his was an amorous
knight, who married in fucceflion four wives, — the lall
in the year 15 14. This lady, a daughter of Sir Robert
Sheffield, bore him a fon, Francis, who was left father-
lefs in the iirft year of his life — January, 15 17. Being
very much his own mailer, before he was of age this
foolifh youth married a widow, the relid of Sir John
Congreve, of Stretton, county Stafford, and likewife
the daughter of his guardian, Sir John Girt'ard. The
widow Congreve brought with her to her young
hufband's home two daughters by her late fpoufe,
Elizabeth and Urfula Congreve.

By turning to the Underhill Pedigree, it will be feen
that the two fons of Edward Underhill, of Eatington,
eventually married thefe two young ladies, and the
reader will not be furprifed to hear what followed.

By a leafe, dated April 28, 1541, the above-named
Francis Shirley was induced to grant the whole of his
ancient Warwicklhire property, except the right of
prefentation to the church of Nether Eatington, to
Edward Underhill and his eldell Ion, Thomas, for a
term of 100 years. This leafe was the caufe of much
unpleafantnefs and of a long feries of lawfuits, which

were

^^

iCm

t:

^^;<:

Undeiliilk HfOtt ,

iikt mother of the '
who had married ]
tetmdsy nsado frouk <
Stour, inoflrate the tiaami
Shiriej and his wife :—

<* Ralph BndMlbjr/ of
'* Leicefier,. £%, being t

''That ' Frands Shnfejr i
" maiMffement of his tmt,i
"aliid <teer m his paik at
'* great delight $ but referred ^ i
'' and for the moft part to be
''Dorothy his wife, and hef
" (ame, and efpedalljr his ho^tal^r^
" with great fivgali^ and woAi|^ lo|
"mendation, as well for pr^ ^'
"keeping hb houfe in good
" things whatibever. Fromfiidii
*' ings as he had with and for the :
" and his Ion, John Shiikj, he jtsi ^
" be now (1613) worth jraoo perl
" the 40 marln paid for it (by the f
" over, he depoieth, that Iwraaa \
"both his y^e, did mdce an I
"ftom Francis Shirley the Fee H
" Eatington for jf aoo in moM,
" prevaUed if they had not htm]
" by John Shirley, and forther ~
"John Shirley ib to do.**

Defpite the litigation^ die i
UndeAills reUined.pofleffiDtt ^
expiration of the leafe. In X&II9 i '
to Upthrop^ in the parilh of /
Worcefler. '

During the reign of ',

UnderhiSs was at its height | ^

Appendix. 355

time that they acquired lands in and about Stratford,
and in numerous parilhes about Eatington.

Our intereft, in this work, is directed to the junior
branch of the family, and therefore the fenior line has
not been given in the Pedigree. The founder of this
junior line was WilHam (A), (the younger fon of the
above-named Edward), who married one of the lifters
Congreve — Urfula.

He was the father of William Underbill (B), who
purchafed New Place from Bott, and fold it fubfe-
quently to Shakefpere. Concerning thefe perfons, I
have gathered Ibme interefting information, which will
Ihow their connection with the county, and particu-
larly with Stratford-upon-Avon.

(S.P.O. Domeftic Correfp. Elizabeth, vol. cxxxvii.
art. 68, 69).

Art. 68. — "A Booke of the Names of the Gentlemen and
Freeholders in the Countie of (Farwick, 1580."

" Hundred de Kington :

Tho. Undrill, gent.

* * * *

" Hundred de Barlichway :

* * * *

Wm. Clopton, Efqr.
^ -X- * *

Wm. Underbill, gent.

* -X- * *

John Coomes, gent.

* * * *

John Shakefpeare.

* * * *

Thomas Shakfpeare.

* * * *

John Shakfper.

¥e * * ¥e

Art. 69.—

Appendix. 257

G— page 88.

j4bflraa of mil of JFiUiam UndnhUl.

{Vide Pedigree, A).

William Underhill makes his will on the ift day
of December, anno. 12 Eliz. (1569), and defcribes
himfelf therein as of " Newbold Revell, in Com: Warr.
" Gent."* In the firft place he exprelFes his defire to
be buried by his dearly beloved wife, in the parilh of
Nether Eatington. He then proceeds to exprefs his
intentions as to the difpofition of his property, as fol-
lows : — To his heir, &:c., the third part of all his
manors, lands, and tenements ; the reft (the manor of
Idlicote being held in capite) to his executors, with all
" leafes, goodes, cattell, plate, and houfehold ftutie," to
fulfil the intents and meaning of his will, and to bring
up his children.

He prohibits moft emphatically to his heirs the
alienation of his lands, except for their lives, their
wives* lives, or leafes for xxj years. Prohibits his fon,
\V. Underhill, from marrying before the age of twenty-
four, without the confent of his brother Shirley, brother
Brokelby, brother Thomas Underhill, and brother
Congreve, or their heirs, &c., &:c.

In the event of his fon dying, or going about to
alienate or fell his lands, he provides that they Ihall

pals

• I find that the manor of Idlicote was alienated by Louis
Grevillc to William Underhill (A), in the 10th of Eliz., and
that in the following year the same Louis Greville alienated
to the same William Underhill the manor of Loxley. It will
be observed that on the Pedigree I have described this William
(A), as of Idlicote and Loxley, while in his will he describes
himself as of ** Newbold Revell." The above facts will ex-
plain the reason. He was commonly known, when he made
nis will (1569), as Underhill of Newbold Revell, the Idlicote
and Loxley property having been acquired only during the two
years previous.

pafs to tellator's brother, John. The properties in
the will enumerated are the manor of Idlicote, lands
and tenements in Idlicote, Coxley, and HoUington,
lands in Kington-BalFet, Barton, Meryden, Alfpathe,
and Elenell, in the county of Warwick aforefaid. The
tellator mentions a brother Humphrey. Alfo a brother
Thomas, and the faid Thomas's fon, Francis (his god-
fon), as follows : —

" And alfo I do give to my brother Thomas, untellhis
" fon Frauncis Underbill my godfon be of tlie age of
** xxiiij yeros and then only to the faid Frauncis and to
'* the heires males of the very body of the faid Frauncis
" lawfully begotten as is aforelaid and with like condi-
'* cion and untill fuch time as is aforefaid all my landes
" and tenementes with their appurtenances in Hafelor
" StretJhrde-upon-Aven and Drayton in the county of
" Warwick and in the parifti of Wolverhampton in
" the county of Stafford " &c.

7\vo more Ions of his brother Thomas are alfo men-
tioned, viz., George and Humphrey. Alfo Humphrey,
fon of his brother John. Teftator mentions by name
his three daughters, Dorothy, Margaret, and Anne, to
each of whom there is a bequeft of .^500.

To his fon William, he leaves his fignet of gold.
To each of his daughters "one lilver fponej" to Dorothie
her mother's wedding-ring and one bracelet of gold ;
to his fecond daughter, " my late moft loving wife
" Newport's* wedding-ringe j" to my youngeft daugh-
ter, " a little chain of gold, and one other of my Srft
" wife's ringes."

Legacies are bequeathed to his brother John*s chil-
dren,

* This was his second wife, who had pre-deceased him litdc
more than a year, her will (which was made by license of
her husband) having: been proved on the 28th of Januaryf
1569. She was the widow of Richard Newport, of Heming-
ham, by whom she had a son, John, and four daughters. Coo-
stance, Elizabeth, Ursula, and Mary.

Appendix. 359

dren, to his fifter Dalby's children, to his filler Wyke-
ham's children, and to his liller IMynoIa.

Alliifion is made to an Elizabeth Underbill, his god-
daughter, his iiller Wynifrcd's daughters, and his liller
Tamer's daughters. He provides, in the event of any
dirticulty ariling about the interpretation of his will,
that it fliall be referred to the judgment and arbitration
of his friend. Sir James Dier, Lord Chief Jullice of
the Common Pleas.

He llrenuoully urges more than once (reiterating
the fame defire at the conclulion) the non-aliena-
tion of his lands, and particularly requells that his
daughters do not throw themfelves away in mar-
riage ; and Ihould they marry contrary to his deter-
mination and appointment, or ** otl'end and myfufe
" theml'elfes in carnall or adulterous lyvyng and the
" fame be duely proved " that then the portions and
bequefts allotted them Ihall be null and void.

This will was proved at London on the loth day of
April, A.D. i.^/O, the tellator having departed this life,
according to the uuimfition poji mortem, on the lafl day
of March preceding.

H — page 90.

The Will of miliam Undcrhill. {Vide Pedigree, B.)

" |n % |[amc of (60b glmen WILLIAM UNDER-
" HILL of Idlicott in the countie of Warwicke
'* Efquier beinge of perfect minde and memorie did as
" well in the lixth daie of Julie anno domini 1597 as
" at divers other tymes or at lea ft once in the tyme of
" his ficknes whereof he died make and declare his
" lafl will and tellament nuncupative in manner and
*' forme folio weing or the like in ert'ed viz. Firft he
" revoked all former wills and teftamentes by him

" made

360 Appendix.

'* made or declared and willed that his daughter Do-
" rothie (hold have for her parte five hundred poundes
" and all her Jewells and that his younger daughter
" named Valentine Ihold alfo have otlier five hundred
" poundes Likewife he willed that his eldeft fonne
" Foulke Underhill Ihold have all his landes and that
" in regarde thereof if he lived he Ihould be charge-
" able to perform all fuch promifes and grauntes as
" (hall at anie tyme hereafter appeare to be made by
*' him the faide William Underhill in his life time for
" which he had received monie And further he
" willed that if the faide Foulke Underhill Ihould
" happen to die, then his next heire that Ihall inheriie
** (lu)ld be chargeable to performe the fame his pro-
** miles and grauntes. Alio he willed that everie of his
" oiherfonncs ihould have twohundred poundes a peece.
" Likewile he the fame William Underhill declared
" that he had oweinge unto him two thoufande poundes
" for the which he had fpecialties. And that one
** Mailer Baflet owed unto him threefcore and tenne
'* poundes for which he had nothing tolhewe. Laillie
" he conllituted and appointed Malier George Sherley
" Ef(]uier and Mailer Thomas Sherley his brother
" executors of the fame his lall will and teftament and
" humblie defired that it wold pleafe them to take
" uppon them the execution thereof. And this his faide
" laft will and tedament he foe made and by worde
** declared in the pre fence of divers credible witnefTes.

" Proved at London, on the 9th day of Augufl
** AD 1597, by the oath of Alexander Serle
** notary public, the pro6lorof George Sherley
** Elq. and Thomas Sherley, the executors
" above named."

It will be obferved that in the above will of W. Un-
derhill (B), he leaves two members of the Shiriey
family his executors ; from which we may gather that
the difpute between the Shirleys and fenior branch of

the

appendix. 361

the Underbills of Eatington did not affedt the junior
branch at Idlicote.

For thofe who are fond of church-hunting, and
reading heraldic achievements, Eatington otfers peculiar
attradions. It is the burial-place of the diiVmguifbed
families of Shirley and Ferrers, and is rich in monu-
mental remains. There are memorials likewife to
feveral of the Underbills. Edward Underbill, whofe
Ions married the twin Congreves, is thus remembered —

" Here lyeth buried under this ftone Edward
" Underbill, fometime gentleman of this Town,
" with Margaret, fometime his Wife : which Edward
" dilTeafed this world the fifth day of November,
" A.D. M.D.XLVI.

" On whofe follys Jhefu have mercy, ylmen,''

Thomas, the eldeft fon of the above, and Elizabeth
Congreve, his wife, are alfo held in memory, with a very
lengthy infcription, of which the following is but a
fmail part. Iheir monumental virtues are immenfe :

" Here lyeth buried the bodyes of Thomas Under-
" hill, of this Towne, Elquier, and Elizabeth his wife,
" who lived married together in perfedil amitie about
" 65 years, and had iflue between them xx children :

** viz. XIII fons, and vii daughters She dyed

•' 24 Junii, An. D. 1603 ; and he the 6th day of Odo-
•* ber next after

•* God they feared: God theyferved: God they loved:
" and to God they dyed,''

As far as tliis book is concerned, the moft interefting
of all the monuments is that of the William Under-
liill (A) from whofe fon Shakefpere purchafed New
T*lace. The infcription runs as follows • —

" Here lyeth William Underbill of the Inner
•' Temple of London, gentleman: of Edward Underbill,
*• Efquier, fecond fon 3 and Urlula his dearly beloved

" wife

" wife, youngell daughter of John Congreve of Stret-
*' ton, in Com. Staff. Efquier, whofe life was a fpecStacle
*' unto all honeft, virtuous, and obedient wifes: (be dyed
" the xiiii"* day of May, An : Dom : M.D.L.X.I.

" Upon whofe fouls Chri/i have mercy. Amen,''

(No date is given of the death of this William
Underhill (A) ; but the period is fixed by the proving
of his will in April, 1570, as above.)

I — page 131.
De Quincey.

De Quincey's article on Shakefpere in the old edition
of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," is probably known
to a comparatively fmall number of perlbns. Probably
had he been alive at this time, and having fuch an
article to write, he would not have produced the one
in queiiion ; probably, alfo, in his complete works, now
illuing from the prefs, and fo beautifully got up, we
Ihall never find the article in queftion. But tlie well-
worn phrafe is painfully applicable, " literce fcrtptcB
mancnf.'* Whatever fuch a man as De Quincey might
write, is fure to leave its mark^ and therefore, when a
giant hits a giant's blow, we mull look for the necef-
fary contufion. De Quincey ufed his llrength to bruife
the reputation of Shakefpere ; and it is a very forry
apology, when you have disfigured a man, to beg his
pardon, and fay you did not intend to hit fo hard.

The refult of De Quincey's article has been precifely
what any one might expe6t. Men who have never read
that article, perhaps never heard of it, have received
through other channels of information the impreOlon
made by De Quincey. In this way, minds receive pre-
judices which no regret on the part of the writer of an

article

Appendix. 363

article can prevent. I can quite believe that if De
Quincey could, years ago, have torn out from the pages
of the Encyclopaedia his article on Shakefpere, he
would have done fo. But that can never be done j and
though it be fupprelled in his works, or otherwife
huddled away, it cannot be obliterated from the pages
of the work in which it remains, unallailable. For this
reafon I have dwelt upon it, and referred to it, hoping
that the attention of thole who read thefe pages may
thereby be drawn to the fubjett, and that a proper
antidote may be adminillered to the baneful influence
which fuch an article as De Quincey's has had, and
would ft ill have if treated with lilence. It is far more
healthy and more jull to drag it into the open day,
point to its injurious paragraphs, and fay openly — Thele
words ought never to have been written j they are
unjuftifiable j they are the mere conjectures of a man
who muft have regretted writing them, and who never
would have written them had he acquainted himfelf
thoroughly with the culloms of the times in which
Shakefpere lived.

I give one extrad from De Quincey to lliow how he
wrote, and to explain the tone alfumed by me in the
body of this work.

He is commenting on the marriage bond (pp. 29,

30,31):—

" What are we to think of this document ? Trepi-

" dation and anxiety are written upon its face

" As the daughter of a fubftantial yeoman, who would
" expedfome fortune in his daughter's fuitor, ihe (Anne
"Hathaway) had, to fpeak coarfely, a little outlived
" her market. Time, flie had none to lofe. William
** Shakefpere pleafed her eye, and the gentlenei's of
" his nature made him an apt fubjed for female bland-
" ilhments — poliibly for female arts. Without imputing
" to this Anne Hathaway anything fo hateful as a
" fettled plot for enfnaring him, it was eafy enough
" for a mature woman, armed with fuch inevitable
•' advantages of experience and of felf-polfellion, to

" draw

364 Appendix.

" draw onward a blulhing novice, and, without diredly
" creating opportunities, to place him in the way of
" turning to account fuch as naturally offered.

" Young boys are generally flattered by the conde-

" fcending notice of grown-up women,'* &c

" Once, indeed, entangled in fuch a purfuit, any perfon
"of manly feelings would be fenlible that he had no
** retreat ; that would be to infult a woman grievoufly —
" to wound her fexual pride — and to infure her lafting
" fcorn and hatred. Thefe were confequences which
"the gentle-minded Shakefpere could not face. He
" purfued his good fortunes, half perhaps in heedleff-
" nefs, half in d«^fperation, until he was roufed by the
" clamorous difpleafure of her family upon firft difco-
" vering the lituation of their kinfwoman. For fuch
" a (ituation there could be but one atonement, and
" that was hurried forward by both parties, whilft, out
" of delicacy towards the bride, the wedding was not
" celebrated in Stratford, where the regiller contains

" no notice of fuch an event." (and much

more to the fame ctfed).

The reader will now underftand the emphafis ufed
in various portions of this book ; and will, perhaps,
wonder with me that Shakefpere's was not too
honoured a name to be dealt with fo flippantly by a
famed author in a great national work.

Let it be faid of the above, that it is — every fyllable
— an unfapported and degrading conjecture j that the
motives and the a6ts are the bafe inventions of De
Quincey's own imagination j and that the man who
ufes his pen to hurt the fair fame of the dead in fuch
a falhion, were he twenty times the author and writer
that De Quincey was, deferves the fevereft condem-
nation.

J— page 148.

Appendix. 365

J — page 148.

CLOPTON PEDIGREE.

Combe, or Combes.

To work out the Combe Pedigree, and to bring it
down corrcdiy to the union between the hcirel's
Martha Combe and Edward Clopton, has coll me an
amount of hibour, which none but tholl- acquainted
with the diiHculties of luch work will give me credit
for.

By the courtely aiul kindnefs of Herald's College, I
was enabled to take a copy of the pedigree contained
in " Vincent's W'arwic klhire " (J619). This book
was prefented by Sheldon to the College in J684,
and is always regarded as a moll trullworthy guide.
Having pollelfed myfelf of this, I next conlulted all
the \'iliiati(ins and MSS. at the Hritilh Mufeum which
would give any light on the fubjed, and next I ran-
facked the regifters of Stratford Church. I have at
lalt compiled that IVdigree which will be found on
ane part <;f the ** Clopton " Iheet.

In the main features ot this Pedigree I have thought
t my duty to accept the authority of Vincent, but I con-
fefs I do fo with great heliiation, being unable (except
ipon a conjecture which I have embodied in the Pedi-
gree) to reconcile the contlicting evidence of Vincent's
\IS. and the unbending entries which I tind in the
Stratford Regilltr.

To thofe who are curious in fuch matters this fub-
ett c;!nnot fail to be interelling, and therefore I will
JO into it fully.

After having g(Mie over the Stratford Regiller with
jreat care, and aliilted by Mr. Butcher, the Parifh
Jlerk, who has revif-d all my quotations, I find the fol-
owing to be the whole of the entries with regard tc
he Combes family about the dates w ith which we are
nterelled.

Marridiics,

366 Appendix.

Marriages,

1561. Auguft 27. — Johannes Combes, generofus, et
Rofa Cloptonne.

Burials,
1573. April 4. — Jone, filia Johannis Combes.

1575. April 8. — Francis, fonne to Mr. John Combs.

1576. June II. — Francis, fonne to Mr. John Combes.

1 577. Januar)^ 29. — John, fonne to Mr. John
Coombes.

1579. 06i. 14. — Miftrefs Rofe, wife to Mr. John
Combes.

1584. Feb. 2. — Will, fonne to Mr. John Combes.

1584. May 24. — Milirefs Elizabetli, wife to Mr.
John Combes.

1 6 14. July 12. — Mr. John Com les, gentleman.

We naturally aik, who was this Mr. John Combes ?
On turnini^ to the iufcription upon the altar tomb of
John a Combe, in the chancel of Stratford Church, we
hnd it terminating in this fafhion. After enumerating
the bc(]uells of the deceafed, it concludes, — " Ye wich
*' increafe he apoynted to be diftributed towards the
*' reliefe of ye ahiies-])eople theire. More he gave to
" tlie poore of Stratford Twenty LI."

What does that 5 1 mean ? Can it be intended to
denote the age of John a Combe at the time of his
death ? Probably not ; but if not, what poflible mean-
ing can it have ?

The reader will foon fee the intereft of this inquiiy.
There is no evidence, that I am aware of, to tell us at

what

Appe?idix. 367

what age John a Combe died -, and there are, unfor-
tunately, fo many Combes in the Pedigree named
"John," that we are in great danger of confufing one
with another. John a Combe, Shakefperes friend, is
commonly reputed to have been an old man at the
time of his death ; but he is alfo reported to have been
an old bachelor. In a MS. givfu by Mr. Hunter in
his New Illuftrations, we read of ** an old gentleman,
" a batchelor, Mr. Combe, upon whofe name the
*' poet," &:c., tS:c.

Alfuming that John a Combe was an old bachelor,
who was the John with all the children ?

The Pedigree Ihows us that there was another John
Combe, living at Warwick, but he had married one
Johanna Murcote, and therefore he could not be the
hulband of Rofe Clopton, married in i/;6i, and dead
in i;';79, nor yet of " Millrels Elizabeth," who died
in 1584.

We are driven, therefore, to the necelfity of trying
to fhow that one of the aboce-uamed ladies was the wife
of John a. Comic's father. This is what Vincent fets
forth in his Pedigree, and it is fupported by a note of
Malone's. He fays, "Mr. Combe married Mrs. Rofe
" Clopton, the youngell daughter of William Clopton
" of Cloj)ton, Efq. [it was old John who married Rofe
"Clopton], Augull 27, If/) I ; and therefore was, pro-
" bably, when he died, eighty years old.'*

As Vincent was a Warwick (hi re man, and had full
opportunity of acquainting himfelf perlbnally with the
hillories of the families he catalogued in his Vifitation,
we feem bound to conclude that John a Combe's father
(John of Stratford) was the hulband of Rofe Clopton.
The regiller above quoted Ihows that ihe lived in wed-
lock from 1 56 1 to 1579.

During that period, four children of Mr. John
Combe's were interred in Stratford Church, viz., Jone,
Francis, Francis, John. They evidently were Role
Clopton's offspring, and died in infancy ; but of them
there is no mention made in FincenCs Pedigree. I have

introduced

368 Appendix.

in(rodiict*d thefe names with dotted lines, according to
heraldic cullom, to lignify that the delbent is doubtful,
though there cannot be any doubt upon the point,
becaufe the evidence ot* the Stratford regiller is over-
powering : and therefore in the above omillions, Vin-
cent's Pedigree at Herald's College nnull be fo far
incorrec'-t.

But Vincent inftruds us that " old John" took Rofe
Clopion for hhj'tioful wiji't and that his celebrated fon,
Jolin a Combe, was the third ort«>pring of the tirit
marriage with Jocola, the daughter of Edward Blount,
of Kidderminller. It will be feen, on reference, that
there were four children by that marriage. AlVuming
(hat Jocofa Blount died the year prior to her hulband's
fecond marriage, and that her children were born one
year after the other, ihe could not have been married
later than 1553 (molt probably the date would be
two or three years earlier); and alVuming that "old
"flohn" was twenty years of age when he married, it
would give his date of birth about 15.35. It is raoll
likely that he was born iJ^mewhat earlier, but as mar-
riages were contracted in very young years in ihofe
days, we could hardly conjecture his birth as prior to
I ',^2. At the death of his fecond wife, therefore, he
would be about 47 years of age, and not at all too old
to many tor the third time. That he did lb ieems
almolt certain, becaufe we are encountered with the
entry, in i ■;S4, " Miftrels Elizabeth, wife to Mr. John
*' Combes." It is (juite pollibie that this lady might
have been the wit'e of John a Combe, for at that date
he \\ IS })ro])al)Iy live and twenty years of age. But as
John a Combe is imiverlally reported to have been an
old bachelor, this caimot be correct. We have no
alternative, therefore, but to conclude that " old John"
did marry for the third time, alter the death of Rofe
Clopton, and that " Miltrefs Elizabeth" was the mother
of the child '• Will," who was buried February 2, 1584.
It was only three months afterwards that tlie mother
followed the child to the grave, and therefore it appears

probable

Appt\

ndix. 369

probable that the child's birth and death coft the
mother her hfe abb. With the entry of *' IMilirels
" Ehzabeth's" funeral, all knowledge of " old John,"
as far as I am accjuaiiited, ends. I am at a lofs to
underlland w h}' Malone giielfes ** old John" as probably
** eighty years old when he died, ' hmply beeaule he
married his lecond wife, Rofe, in ij6i, at which date
he was jiolhbly about thirty years of age — probably
fomewhat younger. Difprojioriionate alliances as to
years were not falhional)Ie in thofe days; and we can
with certainty conclude that •* old Jolm" mult have
been a youthful bridegroom when he married Role,
becaufe, in I5^>J, ^^^^^^ mull have been (juite a girl, lince
her eldeft brother, William CMo[)ton (C), was only bom
in 1537, and was therefore but twenty-four years of age
when his hlier, the third }'ounger than himfelf, was
married. Roll' could not have luen more than eighteen
or nineteen when fhe married John Combe ; and it is
not likely that a girl of eighteen, /// th(i\\- dmj^, would
marry a man many year> older th.m herlclf.

It is (juite j^oliible that '* old John" ma\' have lived
until he was eighty years of age. If li), he only died
four or five years before his Ion, John a Combe, 'i'he
regiller of Strattord \>> totally fiknt on the fubjeii-t, and
I can find no trace thrre of his death or burial. He
may polfibly ha\e been interred at Altley, from whence
Ids family came.

It will be leen that on the Pedigree I have, with the
dotted lines of doubt, fupplied "old John'N" third
marriage, and the burial both of his wife and his child,
concerning whom Vincent is altogether lileiit. I con-
clude his Pedigree /////// Ic dtj'vctivv, beeaule the Strat-
ford regiliers will admit of no (|ueftion«> or doubts;
their entries are abfolute and conclulive evidence.

1 confefs J have had, and liill have, fome doubts as
to the corrednefs of Vincent in reprefenting John j\
Combe as the third child of Jocofa Blount — "Old
"John's" firll wife; though I dare not venture to
call in queftion his pedigree, becaufe it clears up one

great

.■ y*f J

[«id.beqwwlli«l^

^^M&ik*- lit tKj- naailaMf

m!i In thhr

bMiiflnidi;#ithidbe

ljp«^lDl of his ""bfoduarJi^

he aUb ipeaks of hitv^,""

foMequeotly calb liii&. ^i#<^

"Combe/

. "Item. 1 will I

" Thomas Comhe^ ieo.t'^t «.4r

"Thomas Comb^ his hi^Miti

"eveiyyear for ieveiy year. Ibt^

" preadier twenty {bSimm tli;i

" year at Stretibrd Chor^lB^ii

*' my laid Nbpbbw Thomas <

"do. not pay the laid twenljr;

" preacher/* &C. rt^

There can be no (joeftioii as:l9j
(bribed, nor to the miflake in.fhf ^
calling him in the one inflanoe ^
Nephew.

Having difcovered one ihchi
ped that the term "brother*'
iiich explanation, becaofe, i
cuflom, after the death of one \
by the (ame Chriftian name <as Wj^l
infants "Francis,** the loos of "C^
lefi, we (hoold hardly expeft to inil
and both bearing the fame titt^ "
explains the matter at oncie. . Wt^
Johns, though both fbns of " (X4 il
theleis, only haff'-brothers^^thmi
Jocoia Blount, the other iof Rofe/i
their chritenings each receifed
and when John i Combe was i
veiy natural for htm to ^peA^l.^i

Having thus fiiiriy i
and authority,'! wUl frank^
weaknefi to oppofe to him

ur^

"-i

a;^

Appendix. 371

and hefitations. I have undoubtedly proved one of
two things. Either Vincent's Pedigree is incorredl in
not having fupplied us with the names of Rofe Clop-
ton's children in full, and with " Old John's " third
marriage, and the name both of his wife and child ; or
he has altogether dropped out of notice fome John
Combe, of Stratford, and a member of this family,
whofe wife and family are proved by the n.'gifter to
have exilled.

The ditHculty might eafily be folved if we entertained
the idea of John a Combes having once married — his
children having died — and that he was left a widower,
inllead of being a bachelor. This would make things
fmooth at once ; but unfortunately every fort of evi-
dence and tradition agrees with the pedigree in making
John a Combe always and ever a bachelor.

We mull conclude, therefore, that Vincent altogether
overlooked "Old John's" third marriage. May he
not, pollibly, have confounded the one John with the
other, and have made John a Combe by miftake the
fon of Jocola Blount, rather than of Role Clopton ?

There is a llrong imprellion on my mind that I have
feen it llated that John a Combe was the fon of Rofe
Clopton. If the figures LI upon his tomb are intended
to indicate his age, lie muji have been ; for reckoning
from 1562, the year after Role Clopton was married,
to the year in which John a Combe died, he would
have been 51 at the date of his death, July, 1614J
added to which, it mull be remarked that Vincent's
Pedigree does make a "John Combe" to have been
Rofe Clopton's eldeil child, only it reprefents him as
the ** brother John," and makes John a Combe the fon
of the firll wife.

As regards the property or the defcent coming down
to Martha Combe, wife of Edward Clopton, it matters
not whether Vincent is right or wrong. The point is
of fome intereft to thofe who are endeavouring to put
together the fatb and alTociations of Shakefpere's day,
and to trace out the precife relations of thofe perlbns

among

372 appendix. i

among whom he moved in foclal friendfhip and in- j
timacy. As I faid before, I know my pofition is weak, i
and Vincent's very rtrong. I fubmit, theiefore, to his I
authority, with the ftrongefl indination to dilpute it.
\Vhen John a Combe died, in 1614, he could not, I
under any cinuw fiances , have been an old man. I cannot I
calculate him, though the Ton of Jocola Blount, to have
been more than fixty at his death. Should it, how-
ever, at any time appear that the figures on his tomb
denote his real age, it would be a lingular coincidence
to tind that both Shakefpere and his attached friend
died in their fifty-lecond year; and thofe figures
would alfo eftablifli the fad that John a Combe came
of the Clopton race, and muft have been th^^Jbn of Hoje I
Clop (on, 1

K— page 277.

In cafe the reader ihould have a curiofity to fee a
houfe exactly like New Place in the lall century, I
may mention that the new line of railway between
Waterloo Station and London Bridge has lately dif-
clofed one. In palling along Union Street, in the
Borough, in the narrow part, where the feries of arches
runs cl.)le to the bark of the houfes on the left (going
towards Loudon Bridge), there is a fmall llreet, called
Gravel Lane. Li that llreet I lately came upon the
houle referred to, and as it is precifely limilar, even in
fmall details, to the prints of New^ Place (1720), it
may be an object of iuterell to fome of my readers.

As it Itauds clofe into the angle where the Chatham
and Dover Railway, going to Blackfriars Bridge, crofib
the extenlion line trom Waterloo to London Bridge,
and the Ad of Parliament gives powers to purchafe
this properly, it may be well to draw attention to this
interelling old houfe, before the iron Viligoths fweep
it away. It belongs to George Vaughan, Efq., of
Wellbourne Terrace, and has been in polIeHion of his

family

Appendix. 373

family for a conliderable period. Mr. Vaughan's
tenants, J. H. and G. T. James, hatters, iiave a
worthy atiodion for the old — old place, which Hands an
ancient landmark in tlie midll of modern buildings.

Over the doorway, upon a lozenge, is the loliowing
infcription : — y

D. H.

J C E

The old leaden tank bears date, ' .1

I oo(;.

I'he broad ftaircafe and the panelled rooms are care-
fiilly jirelerved, with the exception of the oak out of
one of the rooms, which Mr. Vaughan has lately, and
very properly, removed to preferve it, in cafe he lliould
be compelled to part with his cherilhed houfe. Gravel
Lane leads down to the I'hames, and to the lite of
the Globe Theatre. The following faCts, theretbre,
become interclling. Mr. James remembers, when he
was a boy, fome torty years ago, that rows of elm trees
Ikirted the lane; and lie can recall the fact of an aged
carman in the employ of Mellrs. Vaughan, telling him
about the year 1S20, that when he was a youth, in
taking the carts down tc/ the Thames, he was obliged
to pulh the bullies and brambles out of the way to
enable the cart to pals.

Thefe facts are Itriking, becaufe they prove that the
land behind the Globe I'he.itre retained the fame rural
character to the end of the laft century which it mull
have familiarly prefentcd to the eyes of \\'illiam
Shakefpere.

U'here was, until a few months ago, a large garden
at the back of Gravel Lane Houfe. It is now being
built upon by the piers of the Chatham and Dover
railway arches. In it, from time to time, many relics
have been dug uj). Of courfe there are many
houfes around London of the fame character and date
as this houfe, but none in the diredion where it Hill
exills. I ha\e not, however, feen anywhere a houfe

fo

w^*P!Rv ,

|i7dd)« ►feirl_

iliodoiier wlheft li m§^
lb^ date, lie to oalr ^
irilk over Soiitbvipc
drafelf •popdated ttd
catted Ckayel Laiie#

mf^^mm^t-

^^m

. The Rev. R. Jago i8>alMJft
nave of Snitterfidid Gbind^ 0|>j^
As a poet, he was weQaM
Stratford, and many of hit ^
wider popularly. He Um ia
''Extraas.'* One of the beft ,
knguage, upon Hamlet*! ioti^pg!!^]
'' be/* wiU be found im thatiMfelu. '
Mr. Jago, and deicribes the
poet longing after bayi. . It
'' or not to print/* and wfa&
the language of ShakeQiere,
and hopes of the deprefled
this dimax — j^

"Thus critics do 1
Mr. Jago died in 1781, JBk. <S^ '

HATHAWAY*

(See Shakbsmiu .

It appeared to me peife6ti^i
the Shakefpere Pedigree widi '
aways down to their extinduii
—during the prefent centiirir.
the fubjed, the Stratford fi^ ^
an abundant fiind of inibraiii^filil

Appendix. 375

I have contented myfelf, theretore, by merely intro-
ducing in Sliakefpere's Pedigree thole names which
were ablblutely necellliry to Ihow the connection with
him by marriage j and in this place I have colleded
together Inch material as Teems to me valuable, in
order to prelerve a corre(!it record of the iatell deibents
of the Shottery family, and of the way in which the
property palled from them to its prefent owner. As
no one has previoully undertaken to do what I have
thus done, I believe that the following information
will not only be valuable on the inllant, but in fome
few years hence will become very valuable to the
anti(juary, who will thank me for refcuing from oblivion
many details which in another generation would have
been loll for ever. I am under obligation to Mr.
William Thompfon, of Stratfonl, the prefent owner of
Ann Hathaway's Cottage, and alfo to his iblicitors,
for the prompt manu'-r in which they laid the
title-deeds oj)(.n to my infpe(i:tion, and for the manner
in which they fliowed themfelves anxious to give me
any information they polfelfed. Though Mr. 1 hompfon
is yet a very young man, it was exceedingly agree-
able to me to find that the Shottery property had
come into the pollt-llion of a gentleman who thoroughly
appreciates its hilloric allociations, and allures me of
his intention to pre fene the fabric from fpoliation or
decay. My thanks are alfo due to Mrs. Baker, of the
Cottage, who, I trull, will have no reafon to regret the
length of time that we puzzled togethtrr in her kitchen
over the old family Bible, until we got the Pedigree
correct, as far as her knowledge went. It mud, indeed,
be a fource of unending regret to this gtH)d woman,
when ihe recalls from day to day her father's fale of
the houfe, which belonged for centuries to the long
line of her ancellors. It was a bitter necellity; and
every vihtor to Ann Hathaway's Cottage mull feel
with her, and for her.

By the help of Mrs. Baker, Mr. Thompfon, his
lawyer, and the parilh clerk, I have been enabled to

put

376 Appendix.

put together the accompanying Pedigree. By reading it
through, and then perilling the ab(lra6ts I have made
of deed> in Mr. Thomplbn's poirellion, the reader will
be put in polVclhon of the hillory of the Hatliaway
family during the laft hundred years.

Al'ftracis of Title Deeds, ksfc, regarding Ann Hathaway s
CottagCy Sliottery,

I.

Will of John Hathaway of Shottery (Pedigree, A).

" Bequeathes to Urfula Good, now Urfula KamiU,
"5*., payable 12 months after the deceafe of my
'* mother, Sarah Hathaway.

" Alfo to my lifter, Jane Hathaway, now Jane
''Webb (H), the fum of Twenty Pounds.

"Abb all Freehold Lands, i.e. in fee limple, to inj
" loving mother, Sarah Hathaway, during her lit'e; an<
" after her deceafe, 1 devife the laid

** To my three lifters, Sarah Hathaway (C), Elizabet
'' Hathaway (D), and Sufannah Hathaway (E), an
** their heirs.

" And I hereby nominate my mother, Sarah Haths
'"' way (L), executrix, \'c.

" I have hereunto let my leal this 7th day of Augul
'* in the 17th vear of the reign of our Sovereign Lon
'George II. '

"Proved April 2, I74<)."

2.
Will of Sarah Hathaway (C), dated May 3, 1779.

'* I give, devife, and bequeath unto my brother-ii
" law, William Taylor (F), and Sufannah (E), his wif
"during their joint lives, and the life of the longc
'• liver of them, all that my third part or Ihare of an
" in a melVuage or tenement, lands, hereditaments, ar
" premifes which I may die feized or poflefled of <
"entitled unto, lituate at Shottery aforelaid, in til
" pollellion of the laid William Taylor, or elfewhere-

ATHAWAY.

*ji^iiyy from its ExtinSion

. I (H)

Izabeth = — Standlcy

jhavvay

of Chipping i
CO. of Glouc<

► Richard Standley = M

I (E)

Susan Hathaway =

of Shottery. I

,' vw

lathaway Taylor. = M

Dec. i8, 1747. I of

K July 21, 1818. O

ked July, 18, 1816. I B
1 Sept. 9th, 1820.

Ihn. = Eliz. Barnett.
p779- Jan. 3, 1809.

Jtteiy.
I ford,
It. 49.

i

Thomas. s= Mary Burhridgc
5. June 5, 17S9.
Ob. March, 1835.

II I I I I

Si.x children now living (1862.)

Hathaway Baker,
"pt. 24, 1843.
apprenticed.

Face page 376.

Appendix. 377

*' and from and aher the leveral deceafes of the laid
*' Wilhani Taylor and Siilannah his wife, then I give,
*'devife, and beqnealh all and fingular the preniifes
" aforeiaid unto my nephew, John Hathaway Taylor(H).
"Proved October \^, 1785, at Worcelkr."

Conveyance, July 22, 179-; —

" Between Richard Siandley (G), of Chipping Camp-
" den. County of Gloucclter, Max-dreifer, eldeft fon and
** heir-at-law of Klizabeth Standley (H), his late mother,
** deceafed, wlu) was one of the lifters, and a devizee
"named in the lal't will and teiiament of Robert
"Hathaway (M), hL-relotore of Sliottery, parilh of Old
" Strattord, County of Warwick, Yeomaii, deceafed,
"and Mary, the wift* of the faid Richard Standley, of
" the lirft part ; John Hathaway Taylor (1), of Shottery
"aforeiaid, yt^juian, of the fecond part ; Thomas Hunt,
" of Stratford-upon-Avon, County of Warwick, gentle-
" man, of the third part ; in conlidcration of di^^) to
"faid Richard St. uidlcy, i)aid by laid John Hathaway
"Taylor, the laid Richard Standley did convey unto
"laid John Hathaway Taylor, all that one undivided
"third j)art or Ihare, the whole into three etjual parts
"to be divided, of and in all thole two feveral cottages
"or tenements, and two orchards, cs:c. \c., lituated in
" Shottery, aiorelaid.

" Conveyed in fee to John Hathaway Taylor."

4-
Fine, Michaelmas Term, '^G George HI. —

"Between Thomas Hunt, gentleman, plaintive,
'* Richard Standley, and Mary his wife, to bar dower."

5-
Wnilof John Hathaway Taylor (I), dated July 18, 1816.

"John Hathaway Taylor, of Shottery, Lime-burner,
" bequeathes unto niy wife, Mary Taylor (J), and her

" afligns,

37^ Appendix.

" alfigns, for and during the term of her natural life,
" all thofe my feveral melFuages or tenements, &c..
"fituate lying and being in Shottery, parilh of Old
" Stratford aforefaid, and now in my own and Samuel
" Bridges' occupation as tenant thereof to me ; and
" from and after the deceafe of my faid w^ife, I give
"and devife the faid melfuages, &c., unto my Ion,
" William Taylor (L), his heirs and alligns for ever.
" Proved, 9th September, 1820."

6.

Mortgage, January 5, 1836.

" William Taylor (K) to Thomas Taiker ; mortgage
" of Houfes and Premifes at Shotter}', for fecuring
"i;fe^ioo and interefl.

Conveyance, October 30, 1838 —

" By William Taylor (K) and the Mortgagee to Mr.
*' Thomas Barnes, in fee of two meflUages, orchards
" and gardens and premifes, at Shottery, pariih of Old
" Stratford, County of Warwick. William Taylor re-
"ceived ^^^245, coniideration money, and Thomas
** Talker, the mortgagee, c^'ioo from Mr. Thomas
*' Barnes, of Luddlngton."

Mr. Thomas Barnes, by will, dated January 5, 1855 —

"Devifed all thofe three cottages or tenements —
''formerly Hathaways — and fituated in Shottery afore-
" faid, unto William Thompfon, his heirs and affigns
"for ever."

Baptifm*

Appendix. 379

Baptifm, 1747. — December 18, John Hathaway, Ion
of WilHam Taylor.

1809. — John Taylor and Elizabeth Barnett, married,
January 3, at Stratford.

1828. — September 5, John Taylor, buried, aged 49.

1835. — January 10, Mary Taylor, aged 82.

I append a few entries from the Marriage Regifter
of Stratford which are not familiar j though attention
has been previoully drawn to that of Jan. 17, 1579,
when one William Willbnne married one " Anne
" Hathaway of Sholterye/'

The extracts from churchwardens' accounts I have
not icen before in print. Thefe accounts are full of
the names and fignatures of perfons with whom we are
familiar as living in Shakefpere's time.

Marriage Regifter, Stratford.

1567. January 13. — Lawrentius Walker tt Phillippa
Hatha wa).

1570. Ottober 22. — George Hathaway et Anne
Catan, of Loxk-y.

I "572. May 18. — Henry Smith, of Banbury, to Ales
Hathaway, of Shottery.

157^5. Thomas Hathaway et Margaret Smith.

1579. •^"'^wfl'^y 17- — IVilliam IFilfonne et Anne
Hathaway, of Shotten/e,

June 22. — David Jones et Ffrances Hathaway.

1634. — Regirter figned by John Hathaway, church-
warden.

Churchwarden s Accounts.

1633. July 18.

Signed, Tho. Naihe.
" A Levy of Taxation " of ^^40 through-
out the whole parilli.

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